
Pass C S0| 
Book -S^ 






THE 



AMERICAN POLITICIAN; 

CONTAINING THE 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 

THE 

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, 

THE 

INAUGURAL AND FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESSES 
AND MESSAGES OF ALL THE PRESIDENTS, 

AND OTHER IMPORTANT STATE PAPERS; 

TOGETHER WITH A SELECTION OF 

INTERESTING STATISTICAL TABLES, 

AND 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 

OF 

THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 

THE SEVERAL PRESIDENTS, AND MANY OTHER 

DISTINGUISHED CHARACTERS. 



BY M. SEARS. 

ii 



Embellished with the Portraits of the Presidents, 

FROM WASHINGTON TO TYLER. 



BOSTON : 

PUBLISHED BY E. LELAND AND W. J. WHITING. 

1842. 



} 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1841, 

By E. Leland and W. J. Whiting, 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 






PRINTED BY WILLIAM WHITE, 
SPRING LANE - 



PREFACE 



We could not find it in our hearts to leave to an uncertain, 
and, perhaps, unwelcome reception, the compilation which we 
here offer to the reader. A preface is a letter of introduction, 
designed to secure for a work a favorable reception, and too 
often makes a display of qualities not found in its subject. We 
shall, therefore, not attempt to accumulate a mass of high 
sounding epithets, iu uohor in t.h*» npprnar.h of our book, nor 
assert, in the usual style of a preface, that no knowledge is so 
important to man, as that which we intend to convey. 

But we would admonish the young American of the necessity 
of knowing something more of the subject on which he the 
most frequently reads and converses. It is not sufficient to 
know that our government has been alternately administered 
by federalists and republicans, but it is necessary to learn their 
difference, from the prominent measures of each administration ; 
and this can be learned only from public documents. It is 
true that the press teems with political publications, from which 
it might be supposed that the people could obtain the requisite 
information. But it is to be remembered, that most of these 
exhibitions of political faith are made by men who have formed 
their creed, not from the light emitted by the " fathers of our 
constitution," but from the peculiar circumstances connected 
with their education and early associations ; and how honest 
soever may be the advocates of different views, it cannot be 
denied that a more accurate knowledge of the basis of our 
government can be obtained from the doctrines of those who 
labored to confirm and strengthen it. All political wisdom 
was not revealed to the early apostles of American independ- 



4 PREFACE. 

ence, but an accurate estimate of the comparative value of 
different political truths can be best obtained from a knowl- 
edge of the circumstances in which they originated, and of 
their progress to the present time. 

The statistical information in this work has been carefully- 
collected from the most approved authorities, and the necessary 
corrections in them have been made, wherever typographical 
errors appeared. 

In the lives of the men who were chiefly instrumental in 
conducting our country through the storm of the revolution, 
we have endeavored to delineate the peculiar features of their 
political characters, by a relation of the prominent incidents 
in their lives, rather than by identifying them with any political 
party. In this portion of our book, we have exceeded the 
limits which we prescribed to ourselves in our prospectus, that 
we might not mar the symmetry of the structure, by omitting 
any of its parts. 

We would, in conclusion, express our gratitude to our 
friends, for the activity and zeal which they have manifested 
in extending to us their valuable aid and encouragement 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Declaration of Independence, 7 

Constitution of the United States, 12 

Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, .... 25 

Washington's Inaugural Address, 27 

■ First Annual Address, 31 

Farewell Address, 35 

J. Adams's Inaugural Address, 51 

First Annual Address, 58 

Jefferson's Inaugural Address, 64 

First Annual Message, 69 

Madison's Inaugural Address, 77 

First Annual Message, 81 

Monroe's Inaugural Address, 86 

First Annual Message, 95 

J. Q. Adams's Inaugural Address, 107 

First Annual Message, 115 

Jackson's Inaugural Address, 139 

First Annual Message, 143 

Farewell Address, , 171 

Van Buren's Inaugural Address, ] 92 

First Annual Message, 203 

Harrison's Inaugural Address, 234 

Tyler's Address to the People, 257 

Extra Session Message, 261 

Jackson's Maysville Road Veto, 277 

Bank Veto, 292 

Tyler's First Bank Veto, 313 

Second Bank Veto, 320 

Statistical Tables — 

Extra Sessions of Congress, .326 

Governors of the several States and Territories, 327 

1* 



6 CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Revenue of United States, and Losses by Defalcations,. . . .328 
Disbursements of Revenue, and Amount of Defalcations, .330 

Amount of Debts due on Custom-House Bonds, &c, 331 

Seats of Government, and Times of holding Elections, 331 

Dates of the first Settlement of the several Colonies, 332 

Adoption of the first State Constitutions, 332 

Expenditure upon Works of Internal Improvement, 332 

Navy- Yards in the United States, 332 

Officers of United States Mint, and their Salaries, 333 

Post-Offices — Privilege of Franking, , ... 333 

United States Executive Officers, and their Salaries, 334 

Salaries of Officers of the Senate, 334 

of Officers of the House of Representatives, 334 

in different Departments of the Government, 335 

• of Officers of the Supreme Court, 336 

Congress, 336 

Votes for President and Vice-President, 337 

Population, Square Miles, &c, of the United States, 338 

Imports and Exports of the United States, 339 

Cities of the United States, 339 

Apportionment of Representation for Congress in each 

State, 339 

Date of the Formation of the State Constitutions, &c.,. . . .340 

Qualifications of Voters in each State, 341 

Cabinet Officers of each Administration, 343 

Events connected with the History of the United States, . .346 
Relative Value of Bank Notes in 1816 and in 1829, 350 

Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of In- 
dependence, 352 

Select Lives of Persons distinguished in American History, . . .452 

Lives of the Presidents of the United States — 

George Washington, 507 

John Adams, 511 

Thomas Jefferson, 515 

James Madison, 525 

James Monroe, 528 

John Quincy Adams, 531 

Andrew Jackson, 535 

Martin Van Buren, 544 

William Henry Harrison, 546 



THE 



AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes 
necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands 
which have connected them with another, and to assume, 
among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal 
station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God 
entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind 
requires that they should declare the causes which impel 
them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident : that all men 
are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator 
with certain unalienable rights ; that among these are life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these 
rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving 
their just powers from the consent of the governed ; and 
that, whenever any form of government becomes destruc- 
tive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or 
abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its 
foundations on such principles, and organizing its powers 
in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect 
their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate 
that governments, long established, should not be changed 
for light and transient causes ; and, accordingly, all expe- 
rience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to 
suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves 
by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. 
But when a long train of abuses and- usurpations, pursu- 
ing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce 



8 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their 
duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new 
guards for their future security. Such has been the pa- 
tient sufferance of the colonies, and such is now the 
necessity which constrains them to alter their former 
systems of government. The history of the present king 
of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and 
usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment 
of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, 
let facts be submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome 
and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of imme- 
diate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their 
operations till his assent should be obtained ; and, when so 
suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommoda- 
tion of large districts of people, unless those people would 
relinquish the right of representation in the legislature — 
a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants 
only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unu- 
sual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of 
their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them 
into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for 
opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights 
of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, 
to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative 
powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the 
people at large for their exercise ; the state remaining, in 
the mean time, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from 
without and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these 
states ; for that purpose obstructing the laws of naturali- 
zation of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage 
their migration thither, and raising the conditions of new 
appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by re- 
fusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 9 

He has made "judges dependent on his will alone, for 
the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment 
of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent 
hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out 
their substance. 

He has kept among us, in time of peace, standing ar- 
mies, without the consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, 
and superior to, the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a juris- 
diction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged 
by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended 
legislation, 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us ; 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment 
for any murders which they should commit on the inhab- 
itants of these states ; 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world ; 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent ; 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefit of trial 
by jury ; 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pre- 
tended offences ; 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a 
neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary 
government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render 
it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing 
the same absolute rule into these colonies ; 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most val- 
uable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our 
governments ; 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring 
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all 
cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out 
of his protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt 
our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign 
mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, 



ID THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cruelty 
and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, 
and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive 
on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to 
become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or 
to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and 
has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers 
the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of war- 
fare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, 
and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned 
for redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated peti- 
tions have been answered only by repeated injury. A 
prince, whose character is thus marked by every act 
which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a 
free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British 
brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of 
the attempts, by their legislature, to extend an unwarranta- 
ble jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the 
circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We 
have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and 
we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kin- 
dred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably 
interrupt our connections and correspondence. They, too, 
have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. 
We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which de- 
nounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the 
rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States 
of America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to 
the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our 
intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the 
good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and de- 
clare that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to 
be, free and independent states ; that they are absolved 
from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all 
political connection between them and the state of Great 
Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, aa 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



11 



free and independent states, they have full power to levy 
war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish com- 
merce, and to do all other acts and things which independ- 
ent states may of right do. And, for the support of this 
declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Di- 
vine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, 
our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 



The foregoing declaration was, by order of Congress, 
engrossed, and signed by the following members : — 

JOHN HANCOCK. 



New Hampshire. 
JOSIAH BARTLETT, 
WILLIAM WHIPPLE, 
MATTHEW THORNTON. 

Massachusetts Bay. 
SAMUEL ADAMS, 
JOHN ADAMS, 
ROBERT TREAT PAINE, 
ELBRIDGE GERRY. 

Rhode Island. 
STEPHEN HOPKINS, 
WILLIAM ELLERY. 

Connecticut. 
ROGER SHERMAN, 
SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, 
WILLIAM WILLIAMS, 
OLIVER WOLCOTT. 

New York. 
WILLIAM FLOYD, 
PHILIP LIVINGSTON, 
FRANCIS LEWIS, 
LEWIS MORRIS. 

New Jersey. 
RICHARD STOCKTON, 
JOHN WITHERSPOON, 
FRANCIS HOPKINSON, 
JOHN HART, 
ABRAHAM CLARK. 

Pennsylvania. 
ROBERT MORRIS, 
BENJAMIN RUSH, 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 
JOHN MORTON, 
GEORGE CLYMER, 
JAMES SMITH, 



GEORGE TAYLOR, 
JAMES WILSON, 
GEORGE ROSS. 

Delaware. 
CESAR RODNEY, 
GEORGE READ, 
THOMAS M'KEAN. 

Maryland. 
SAMUEL CHASE, 
WILLIAM PACA, 
THOMAS STONE, 
CHARLES CARROLL, of Car- 
rollton. 

Virginia. 
GEORGE WYTHE, 
RICHARD HENRY LEE, 
THOMAS JEFFERSON, 
BENJAMIN HARRISON, 
THOMAS NELSON, Jr. 
FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE, 
CARTER BRAXTON. 
North Carolina. 
WILLIAM HOOPER, 
JOSEPH HEWES, 
JOHN PENN. 

South Carolina. 
EDWARD RUTLEDGE, 
THOMAS HEYWARD, Jr 
THOMAS LYNCH, Jr. 
ARTHUR M1DDLETON. 

Georgia. 
BUTTON GWINNETT, 
LYMAN HALL, 
GEORGE WALTON 



12 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

We, the People of the United States, in order to form a 
more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic 
tranquillity , provide for the common defence, promote 
the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty 
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish 
this Constitution for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I. 

Sect. I. — All legislative powers herein granted shall 
be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall 
consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. 

Sect. II. — 1. The House of Representatives shall be 
composed of members chosen every second year, by the 
people of the several states ; and the electors in each 
state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of 
the most numerous branch of the state legislature. 

2. No person shall be a representative who shall not 
have attained the age of twenty-five years, and been seven 
years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, 
when elected, be an inhabitant of the state in which he 
shall be chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned 
among the several states which may be included within 
this Union, according to their respective numbers, which 
shall be determined by adding to the whole number of 
free persons, including those bound to service for a term 
of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of 
all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made 
within three years after the first meeting of the Congress 
of the United States, and within every subsequent term 
of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. 
The number of representatives shall not exceed one for 
every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least 
one representative; and until such enumeration shall be 
made, the state of New Hampshire shall be entitled to 
choose three ; Massachusetts, eight ; Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations, one; Connecticut, five; New 



CONSTITUTION. 13 

York, six ; New Jersey, four ; Pennsylvania, eight ; Del- 
aware, one ; Maryland, six ; Virginia, ten ; North Car- 
olina, five ; South Carolina, five ; Georgia, three. 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from 
any state, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs 
of election to fill such vacancies. 

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their 
speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole power 
of impeachment. 

Sect. III. — 1. The Senate of the United States shall 
be composed of two senators from each state, chosen by 
the legislature thereof, for six years ; and each senator 
shall have one vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in conse- 
quence of the first election, they shall be divided, as 
equally as may be, into three classes. The seats of the 
senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration 
of the second year, of the second class at the expiration 
of the fourth year, and the third class at the expiration 
of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every 
second year ; and if vacancies happen by resignation or 
otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any 
state, the executive thereof may make temporary appoint- 
ments until the next meeting of the legislature, which 
shall then fill such vacancies. 

3. No person shall be a senator who shall not have 
attained the age of thirty years, and been nine years a 
citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when 
elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall 
be chosen. 

4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be 
President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless 
they be equally divided. 

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and 
also a president pro tempore in the absence of the Vice- 
President, or when he shall exercise the office of Presi- 
dent of the United States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all im- 
peachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be 
on oath or affirmation. When the President of the Uni- 
ted States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside ; and no 

2 



14 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two 
thirds of the members present. 

7. Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend 
further than to removal from office, and disqualification to 
hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under 
the United States ; but the party convicted shall, never- 
theless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, 
and punishment according to law. 

Sect. IV. — 1. The times, places, and manner of hold- 
ing elections for senators and representatives shall be pre- 
scribed in each state, by the legislature thereof; but the 
Congress may, at any time, by law, make or alter such 
regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every 
year ; and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in 
December, unless they shall by law appoint a differ- 
ent day. 

Sect. V. — 1. Each house shall be judge of the elec- 
tions, returns, and qualifications of its own members; and 
a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do busi- 
ness ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, 
and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent 
members, in such manner, and under such penalties, as 
each house may provide. 

2. Each house may determine the rules of its pro- 
ceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, 
with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member. 

3. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, 
and from time to time publish the same, excepting such 
parts as may, in their judgment, require secrecy ; and the 
yeas and nays of the members of either house on any 
question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, 
be entered on the journal. 

4. Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, 
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than 
three days, nor to any other place than that in which the 
two houses shall be sitting. 

Sect. VI. — 1. The senators and representatives shall 
receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained 
by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. 
They shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach 



CONSTITUTION. 15 

of the peace, be privileged from arrest, during their at- 
tendance at the session of their respective houses, and in 
going to or returning from the same ; and for any speech 
or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in 
any other place. 

2. No senator or representative shall, during the time 
for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office 
under the authority of the United States, which shall have 
been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been 
increased, during such time ; and no person holding any 
office under the United States, shall be a member of either 
house, during his continuance in office. 

Sect. VII. — 1. All bills for raising revenue shall ori- 
ginate in the House of Representatives ; but the Senate 
may propose or concur with amendments, as on other 
bills. 

2. Every bill, which shall have passed the House of 
Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a 
law, be presented to the President of the United States ; 
if he approve, he shall sign it ; but if not, he shall return 
it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have 
originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their 
journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such re- 
consideration, two thirds of that house shall agree to pass 
the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to 
the other house, and if approved by two thirds of that 
house, it shaH become a law. But in all such cases, the 
votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and 
nays ; and the names of the persons voting for and against 
the bill, shall be entered on the journals of each house 
respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the 
President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall 
have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in 
like manner as if he had signed it, unless Congress, by 
their adjournment, prevent its return : in which case it 
shall not be a law. 

3. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the con- 
currence of the Senate and House of Representatives may 
be necessary, (except on a question of adjournment,) shall 
be presented to the President of the United States ; and 
before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by 



16 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by 
two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the 
case of a bill. 

Sect. VIII. — The Congress shall have power — 

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and ex- 
cises ; to pay the debts and provide for the common de- 
fence and general welfare of the United States ; but all 
duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout 
the United States : 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United 
States : 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations and 
among the several states, and with the Indian tribes : 

4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and 
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout 
the United States : 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of 
foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and meas- 
ures : 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the 
securities and current coin of the United States : 

7. To establish post-offices and post-roads : 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts ? 
by securing, for limited times, to authors and inventors, 
the exclusive right to their respective writings and dis- 
coveries : 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme 
court : 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies com- 
mitted on the high seas, and offences against the law of 
nations : 

11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and repri- 
sal, and make rules concerning captures on land and 
water : 

12. To raise and support armies ; but no appropriation 
of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two 
years : 

13. To provide and maintain a navy : 

14. To make rules for the government and regulation 
of the land and naval forces : 



CONSTITUTION. 17 

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute 
the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel 
invasions : 

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining 
the militia, and for governing such part of them as may 
be employed in the service of the United States, reserving 
to the states respectively the appointment of the officers, 
and the authority of training the militia, according to the 
discipline prescribed by Congress : 

17. To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases what- 
soever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) 
as mav, by cession of particular states, and the accept- 
ance of Congress, become the seat of government of the 
United States, and to exercise like authority over all 
places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the 
state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, 
magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful build- 
ings : And, 

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and 
proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, 
and all other powers vested by this constitution in the 
government of the United States, or in any department 
or officer thereof. 

Sect. IX. — I. The migration or importation of such 
persons as any of the states, now existing, shall think 
proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress 
prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight ; 
but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, 
not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not 
be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or inva- 
sion, the public safety may require it. 

3. No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, shall be 
passed. 

4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless 
in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before 
directed to be taken. 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported 
from any state. No preference shall be given, by any 
regulation of commerce or revenue, to the ports of one 
state over those of another ; nor shall vessels bound to or 

2* 



18 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in 
another. 

6. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in 
consequence of appropriations made by law ; and a regu- 
lar statement and account of the receipts and expendi- 
tures of all public money shall be published from time 
to time. 

7. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United 
States ; and no person holding any office of profit or trust 
under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, 
accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any 
kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. 

Sect. X. — 1. No state shall enter into any treaty, alli- 
ance, or confederation ; grant letters of marque and repri- 
sal ; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything 
but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; 
pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law im- 
pairing the obligation of contracts ; or grant any title of 
nobility. 

2. No state shall, without the consent of Congress, 
lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except 
what may be absolutely necessary for executing its in- 
spection laws ; and the net produce of all duties and im- 
posts laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for 
the use of the treasury of the United States ; and all 
such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of 
the Congress. No state shall, without the consent of 
Congress, lay any duty on tonnage, keep troops or ships 
of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or com- 
pact with another state or with a foreign power, or engage 
in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger 
as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

Sect. I. — 1. The executive power shall be vested in 
a President of the United States of America. He shall 
hold his office during the term of four years, and, together 
with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be 
elected as follows : 

2. Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the 
legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal 



CONSTITUTION. 19 

to the whole number of senators and representatives to 
which the state may be entitled in the Congress ; but no 
senator or representative, or person holding an office of 
trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed 
an elector. 

3. [Annulled. See Amendments, art. 12.] 

4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing 
the electors, and the day on which they shall give their 
votes ; which day shall be the same throughout the United 
States. 

5. No person, except a natural-born citizen, or a citi- 
zen of the United States at the time of the adoption of 
this constitution, shall be eligible to the office of Presi- 
dent ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office, 
who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, 
and been fourteen years a resident within the United 
States. 

6. In case of the removal of the President from office, 
or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the 
powers and duties of said office, the same shall devolve 
on the Vice-President; and the Congress may by law 
provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or in- 
ability, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring 
what officer shall then act as President, and such officer 
shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a 
President shall be elected. 

7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his 
services a compensation which shall neither be increased 
nor diminished during the period for which he shall have 
been elected ; and he shall not receive, within that period, 
any other emolument from the United States, or any 
of them. 

8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he 
shall take the following oath or affirmation : — 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully 
execute the office of President of the United States, and 
will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and de- 
fend the constitution of the United States." 

Sect. II. — 1. The President shall be commander-in- 
chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the 
militia of the several states, when called into the actual 



20 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

service of the United States : he may require the opinion, 
in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive 
departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of 
their respective offices ; and he shall have power to grant 
reprieves and pardons for offences against the United 
States, except in cases of impeachment. 

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two 
thirds of the senators present concur ; and he shall nomi- 
nate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Sen- 
ate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and 
consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all other officers 
of the United States, whose appointments are not herein 
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by 
law. But the Congress may, by law, vest the appoint- 
ment of such inferior officers as they think proper, in the 
President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of 
departments. 

3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacan- 
cies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by 
granting commissions, which shall expire at the end of 
their next session. 

Sect. III. — He shall, from time to time, give to the 
Congress information of the state of the Union, and recom- 
mend to their consideration such measures as he shall 
judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary 
occasions, convene both houses, or either of them, and in 
case of disagreement between them, with respect to the 
time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as 
he shall think proper ; he shall receive ambassadors, and 
other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws 
be faithfully executed ; and shall commission all the of- 
ficers of the United States. 

Sect. IV. — The President, Vice-President, and all 
civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from 
office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, 
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III. 
Sect. I. — The judicial power of the United States 
shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior 



CONSTITUTION. 21 

courts as the Congress may, from time to time, ordain 
and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and in- 
ferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, 
and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a com- 
pensation which shall not be diminished during their con 
tinuance in office. 

Sect. II. — I. The judicial power shall extend to all 
cases in law and equity arising under this constitution, 
the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which 
shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases affect- 
ing ambassadors, and other public ministers and consuls ; 
to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to 
controversies to which the United States shall be a party; 
to controversies between two or more states ; between a 
state and citizens of another state ; between citizens of 
different states ; between citizens of the same state, claim- 
ing lands under grants of different states, and between a 
state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, 
or subjects. 

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public min 
isters, and consuls, and those in which a state shall be a 
party, the supreme court shall have original jurisdiction. 
In all other cases before mentioned, the supreme court 
shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, 
with such exceptions, and under such regulations, as the 
Congress shall make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeach- 
ment, shall be by jury ; and such trial shall be held in the 
state where the said crimes shall have been committed ; 
but when not committed within any state, the trial shall 
be at such a place or places as the Congress may by law 
have directed. 

Sect. III. — 1. Treason against the United States shall 
consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering 
to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No per- 
son shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony 
of two witnesses to the same overt act, or confessions in 
open court. 

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the pun- 
ishment of treason ; but no attainder of treason shall work 



22 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of 
the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Sect. I. — Full faith and credit shall be given in each 
state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings 
of every other state. And the Congress may, by general 
laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, 
and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Sect. II. — 1. The citizens of each state shall be enti- 
tled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the 
several states. 

2. A person charged in any state with treason, felony, 
or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found 
in another state, shall, on demand of the executive au- 
thority of the state from which he fled, be delivered 
up to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the 
crime. 

3. No person held to service or labor in one state, un- 
der the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in con- 
sequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged 
from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on 
claim of the party to whom such service or labor may 
be due. 

Sect. III. — 1. New states may be admitted by the Con- 
gress into this Union ; but no new state shall be formed 
or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state ; nor 
any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, 
or parts of states, without the consent of the legislature of 
the states concerned, as well as of the Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and 
make all needful rules and regulations respecting the 
territory or other property belonging to the United States; 
and nothing in this constitution shall be so construed as 
to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any 
particular state. 

Sect. IV. — The United States shall guaranty to 
every state of this Union a republican form of govern- 
ment, and shall protect each of them against invasion, 
and, on application of the legislature, or of the executive, 



CONSTITUTION, 23 

(when the legislature cannot be convened,) against do- 
mestic violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses 
shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this 
constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of 
two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention 
for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall 
be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this consti- 
tution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of 
the several states, or by conventions in three fourths there- 
of, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be 
proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment 
which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight, shall in any manner affect the first and 
fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article ; and 
that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its 
equal suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

1. All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, 
before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid 
against the United States under this constitution, as under 
the confederation. 

2. This constitution, and the laws of the United States 
which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties 
made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the 
United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and 
the judges in every state shall be bound thereby ; any thing 
in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary 
notwithstanding. 

3. The senators and representatives before mentioned, 
and the members of the several state legislatures, and all 
executive and judicial officers, both of the United States 
and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirma- 
tion to support this constitution ; but no religious test shall 
ever be required as a qualification to any office or public 
trust under the United States. 



24 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



ARTICLE VII. 

The ratification of the conventions of nine states 
shall be sufficient for the establishment of this constitu- 
tion between the states so ratifying the same. 

Done in convention, by the unanimous consent of the states 
present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of 
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, 
and of the Independence of the United States of Ameri- 
ca the twelfth. In ivitness whereof, we have hereunto 
subscribed our names. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, 

President, and Deputy from Virginia. 



Mew Hampshire 
JOHN LANGDON, 
NICHOLAS G1LMAN. 

Massachusetts. 
NATHANIEL GORHAM, 
RUFUS KING. 

Connecticut. 
WM. SAMUEL JOHNSON, 
ROGER SHERMAN. 

New York. 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

New Jersey. 
WILLIAM LIVINGSTON, 
DAVID BREARLEY, 
WILLIAM PATTERSON, 
JONATHAN DAYTON. 

Pennsijlvania. 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 
THOMAS MIFFLIN, 
ROBERT MORRIS, 
GEORGE CLYMER, 
THOMAS FITZSIMONS, 
JARED INGERSOLL, 
JAMES WILSON, 
GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 



Delaware. 
GEORGE READ, 
GUNNING BEDFORD, Jr. 
JOHN DICKERSON, 
RICHARD BASSETT, 
JACOB BROOM. 

Man/land. 
JAMES M'HENRY, 
DAN'L. of ST. THO. JENIFER, 
DANIEL CARROLL. 

Virginia. 
JOHN BLAIR, 
JAMES MADISON, Jr. 

North Carolina. 
WILLIAM BLOUNT, 
RICH. DOBBS SPAIGHT, 
HUGH WILLIAMSON. 

Sotith Carolina. 
JOHN RUTLEDGE, 
CHARLES C. PINCKNEY, 
CHARLES PINCKNEY, 
PIERCE BUTLER. 

Georgia. 
WILLIAM FEW, 
ABRAHAM BALDWIN. 



Attest, 



WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. 



AMENDMENTS. 25 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

Art. I. — Congress shall make no law respecting an es- 
tablishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the 
press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assem- 
ble and to petition the government for a redress of 
grievances. 

Art. II. — A well-regulated militia being necessary to 
the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep 
and bear arms shall not be infringed. 

Art. III. — No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quar- 
tered in any house without the consent of the owner, 
nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed 
by law. 

Art. IV. — The right of the people to be secure in their 
persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasona- 
ble searches and seizures, shall not be violated ; and no 
warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported 
by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the 
place to be searched, and the persons or things to be 
seized. 

Art. V. — No person shall be held to answer for a 
capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a present- 
ment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases aris- 
ing in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in 
actual service, in time of war or public danger ; nor shall 
any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put 
in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled, in any 
criminal case, to be witness against himself, nor be de- 
prived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of 
law; nor shall private property be taken for public use 
without just compensation. 

Art. VI. — In all criminal prosecutions, the accused 
shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an 
impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime 
shall have been committed, which district shall have been 
previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the 
nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with 
the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process 
3 



£6 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the 
assistance of counsel for his defence. 

Art. VII. — In suits of common law, where the value 
in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial 
by jury shall be preserved ; and no fact, tried by a jury, 
shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United 
States, than according to the rules of the common law. 

Art. VIII. — Excessive bail shall not be required, nor 
excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punish- 
ments inflicted. 

Art. IX. — The enumeration in the constitution, of 
certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage 
others retained by the people. 

Art. X. — The powers not delegated to the United 
States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, 
are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. 

Art. XL — The judicial power of the United States 
shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or 
equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the 
United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens 
or subjects of any foreign state. 

Art. XII. — The electors shall meet in their respec- 
tive states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-Pres- 
ident, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant 
of the same state with themselves ; they shall name in 
their ballots the person voted for as President, and in 
distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President ; and 
they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as 
President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, 
and of the number of votes for each; which lists they 
shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of 
government of the United States, directed to the President 
of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the 
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be 
counted; the person having the greatest number of votes 
for President, shall be President, if such number be a ma- 
jority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if 
no person have such majority, then^ from the persons hav- 
ing the highest number, not exceeding three, on the list 
of those voted for as President, the House of Representa- 



WASHINGTON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 27 

tives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. 

But, in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by 
states, the representation from each state having one vote ; 
a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or 
members from two thirds of the states, and a majority of 
all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the 
House of Representatives shall not choose a President, 
whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, be- 
fore the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice- 
President shall act as President, as in the case of the death 
or other constitutional disability of the President. 

2. The person having the greatest number of votes as 
Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such num- 
ber be a majority of the whole number of electors ap- 
pointed ; and if no person have a majority, then from the 
two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose 
the Vice-President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist 
of two thirds of the whole number of senators, and a 
majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a 
choice. 

3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office 
of President, shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of 
the United States. 

Art. XIII. — If any citizen of the United States shall 
accept, claim, receive, or retain any title of nobility or 
honor, or shall, without the consent of Congress, accept or 
retain any present, pension, office, or emolument of any 
kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince, or foreign 
power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United 
States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust 
or profit under them, or either of them. 



WASHINGTON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

April 30, 1789. 

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate 

and House of Representatives : 
Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no event could 
have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which 



28 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

the notification was transmitted by your order, and re- 
ceived on the 14th day of the present month. On the one 
hand, I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can 
never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat 
which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in 
my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the 
asylum of my declining years, a retreat which was ren- 
dered every day more necessary as well as more dear to 
me by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent 
interruptions in my health, to the gradual waste commit- 
ted on it by time. On the other hand, the magnitude and 
difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country 
called me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and 
most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into 
his qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despond- 
ence one who, inheriting inferior endowments from na- 
ture, and unpractised in the duties of civil administration, 
ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies. 
In this conflict of emotions, all that I dare aver is, that it 
has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just 
appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be 
affected. All I dare hope is, that if, in executing this task, 
I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance 
of former instances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this 
transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens, 
and have thence too little consulted my incapacity as well 
as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before 
me, my error will be palliated by the motives which misled 
me, and its consequences be judged by my country with 
some share of the partiality with which they originated. 

Such being the impressions under which I have, in 
obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present 
station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this 
first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty 
Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the 
councils of nations, and whose providential aids can sup- 
ply every human defect, that his benediction may conse- 
crate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the 
United States a government instituted by themselves for 
these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument 
employed in its administration to execute with success the 



WASHINGTON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 29 

functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this hom- 
age to the great Author of every public and private good, 
I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less 
than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less 
than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge 
and adore the invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of 
men, more than the people of the United States. Every 
step by which they have advanced to the character of an 
independent nation seems to have been distinguished by 
some token of providential agency ; and in the important 
revolution just accomplished in the system of their united 
government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary con- 
sent of so many distinct communities, from which the event 
has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which 
most governments have been established, without some re- 
turn of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation 
of the future blessings which the past seems to presage. 
These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have 
forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be sup- 
pressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that 
there are none under the influence of which the proceed- 
ings of a new and free government can more auspiciously 
commence. 

By the article establishing the executive department, it 
is made the duty of the President " to recommend to your 
consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary 
and expedient." The circumstances under which I now 
meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject 
further than to refer to the great constitutional charter 
under which you are assembled, and which, in defining 
your powers, designates the objects to which your atten- 
tion is to be given. It will be more consistent with those 
circumstances, and far more congenial with the feelings 
which actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommenda- 
tion of particular measures, the tribute that is due to the 
talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn the 
characters selected to devise and adopt them. In these 
honorable qualifications I behold the surest pledges that as, 
on one side, no local prejudices or attachments, no sepa- 
rate views nor party animosities, will misdirect the com- 
prehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this 
3* 



30 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

great assemblage of communities and interests, so, on 
another, that the foundations of our national policy will be 
laid in the pure and immutable principles of private mo- 
rality ; and the preeminence of free government be exem- 
plified by all the attributes which can win the affections of 
its citizens, and command the respect of the world. I 
dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an 
ardent love for my country can inspire, since there is no 
truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in 
the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union 
between virtue and happiness ; between duty and advan- 
tage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and mag- 
nanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity 
and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that 
the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on 
a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and 
right which Heaven itself has ordained, and since the pres- 
ervation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of 
the republican model of government, are justly considered 
as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment in- 
trusted to the hands of the American people. 

Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it 
will remain with your judgment to decide how far an 
exercise of the occasional power delegated by the fifth 
article of the constitution is rendered expedient, at the 
present juncture, by the nature of the objections which 
have been urged against the system, or by the degree of 
inquietude which has given birth to them. Instead of 
undertaking particular recommendations on this subject, 
in which I could be guided by no lights derived from of- 
ficial opportunities, I shall again give way to my entire 
confidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public 
good ; for I assure myself that, while you carefully avoid 
every alteration which might endanger the benefits of a 
united and effective government, or which ought to await 
the future lessons of experience, a reverence for the char- 
acteristic rights of freemen, and a regard for the public 
harmony, will sufficiently influence your deliberations on 
the question how far the former can be more impregnably 
fortified, or the latter be safely and advantageously pro- 
moted. 



WASHINGTON S FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESS. 31 

To the preceding observations I have one to add, which 
will be most properly addressed to the House of Represen- 
tatives. It concerns myself, and will therefore be as brief 
as possible. When I was first honored with a call into the 
service of my country, then on the eve of an arduous 
struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contemplated 
my duty required that I should renounce every pecuniary 
compensation. From this resolution I have in no instance 
departed ; and being still under the impressions which 
produced it, I must decline, as inapplicable to myself, any 
share in the personal emoluments which may be indispen- 
sably included in a permanent provision for the executive 
department, and must accordingly pray that the pecuniary 
estimates for the station in which I am placed, may, during 
my continuance in it, be limited to such actual expendi- 
tures as the public good may be thought to require. 

Having thus imparted to you my sentiments as they have 
been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, 
I shall take my present leave, but not without resorting 
once more to the benign Parent of the human race, in 
humble supplication that, since he has been pleased to 
favor the American people with opportunities for deliber- 
ating in perfect tranquillity, and dispositions for deciding 
with unparalleled unanimity on a form of government for the 
security of their union and the advancement of their hap- 
piness, so his divine blessing may be' equally conspicuous 
in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the 
wise measures on which the success of this government 
must depend. 



WASHINGTON'S FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESS. 

January 8, 1790. 

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate 

and House of Representatives : 
I embrace with great satisfaction the opportunity which 
now presents itself of congratulating you on the present 
favorable prospects of our public affairs. The recent ac- 
cession of the important state of North Carolina to the 



32 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

constitution of the United States, (of which official infor- 
mation has been received,) the rising credit and respecta- 
bility of our country, the general and increasing good-will 
towards the government of the Union, and the concord, 
peace, and plenty, with which we are blessed, are circum- 
stances auspicious, in an eminent degree, to our national 
prosperity. 

In resuming your consultations for the general good, 
you cannot but derive encouragement from the reflec- 
tion that the measures of the last session have been as 
satisfactory to your constituents, as the novelty and diffi- 
culty of the work allowed you to hope. Still further to 
realize their expectations, and to secure the blessings 
which a gracious Providence has placed within our reach, 
will, in the course of the present important session, call 
for the cool and deliberate exertion of your patriotism, 
firmness, and wisdom. 

Among the many interesting objects which will engage 
your attention, that of providing for the common defence 
will merit particular regard. To be prepared for war is 
one of the most effectual means of preserving peace. 

A free people ought not only to be armed, but disci- 
plined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is 
requisite : and their safety and interest require that they 
should promote such manufactures as tend to render them 
independent of others for essential, particularly military 
supplies. 

The proper establishment of the troops which may be 
deemed indispensable, will be entitled to mature considera- 
tion. In the arrangements which may be made respecting it, 
it will be of importance to conciliate the comfortable support 
of the officers and soldiers, with a due regard to economy. 

There was reason to hope that the pacific measures 
adopted with regard to certain hostile tribes of Indians 
would have relieved the inhabitants of our southern and 
western frontiers from their depredations ; but you will 
perceive from the information contained in the papers 
which I shall direct to be laid before you, (comprehending 
a communication from the Commonwealth of Virginia,) 
that we ought to be prepared to afford protection to those 
parts of the Union, and, if necessary, to punish aggressors. 



Washington's first annual address. 33 

The interests of the United States require that our in- 
tercourse with other nations should be facilitated by such 
provisions as will enable me to fulfil my duty in that 
respect, in the manner which circumstances may render 
most conducive to the public good, and, to this end, that 
the compensations to be made to the pers >ns who may be 
employed should, according to the nature of their appoint- 
ments, be defined by law ; and a competent fund designa- 
ted for defraying the expenses incident to the conduct of 
our foreign affiirs. 

Various considerations also render it expedient that the 
terms on which foreigners may be admitted to the rights 
of citizens, should be speedily ascertained by a uniform 
rule of naturalization. 

Uniformity in the currency, weights and measures of the 
United Stites, is an object of great importance, and will, I 
am persuaded, be duly attended to. 

The advancement of agriculture, commerce, and manu- 
factures, by all proper means, will not, I trust, need recom- 
mend ition: but I cannot forbear intimating to you the ex- 
pediency of giving effectual encouragement, as well to the 
introduction of new and useful inventions from abroad, as to 
the exertions of skill and genius in producing them at home ; 
and of facilitating the intercourse between the distant p irts 
of our country by a due attention to the post-office and 
post-roads. 

Nor am I less persuaded that you will agree with me in 
opinion, that there is nothing which c;m better deserve 
your patronage than the promotion of science and litera- 
ture. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of 
public happiness. In one in which the measures of gov- 
ernment receive their impressions so immediately from the 
sense of the community as in ours, it is proportionably 
essential. To the security of a free constitution it con- 
tributes in various ways : by convincing those who are 
intrusted with the public administration, that every valua- 
ble end of government is best answered by the enlightened 
confidence of the people; and by teaching the people 
themselves to know and to value their own rights ; to dis- 
cern and provide against invasions of them ; to distinguish 
between oppression and the necessary exercise of lawful 



o4 THE AME1UCAN POLITICIAN. 

authority ; between burdens proceeding from a disregard 
to their convenience, and those resulting from the inevita- 
ble exigencies of society ; to discriminate the spirit of 
liberty from that of licentiousness, cherishing the first, 
avoiding the last, and uniting a speedy but temperate 
vigilance against encroachments, with an inviolable re- 
spect to the laws. 

Whether this desirable object will be best promoted by 
affording aids to seminaries of learning already established ; 
by the institution of a national university ; or by any other 
expedients, will be well worthy of a place in the delibera- 
tions of the legislature. 

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives : 

I saw with peculiar pleasure, at the close of the last 
session, the resolution entered into by you, expressive of 
your opinion that an adequate provision for the support of 
the public credit, is a matter of high importance to the 
national honor and prosperity. In this sentiment I entirely 
concur. And, to a perfect confidence in your best en- 
deavors to devise such a provision as will be truly consistent 
with the end, I add an equal reliance on the cheerful co- 
operation of the other branch of the legislature. It would 
be superfluous to specify inducements to a measure in 
which the character and permanent interest of the United 
States are so obviously and so deeply concerned, and which 
has received so explicit a sanction from your declaration. 

Gentlemen of the Senate 

and House of Representatives : 

I have directed the proper officers to lay before you, 
respectively, such papers and estimates as regard the affairs 
particularly recommended to your consideration, and ne- 
cessary to convey to you that information of the state of 
the Union which it is my duty to afford. 

The welfare of our country is the great object to which 
our cares and efforts ought to be directed. And I shall 
derive great satisfaction from a cooperation with you, in 
the pleasing, though arduous task of insuring to our fellow- 
citizens the blessings which they have a right to expect 
from a free, efficient, and equal government. 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 35 

WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 

September 17, 1796. 

Friends and Fellow-Citizens : 

The period for a new election of a citizen to adminis- 
ter the executive government of the United States being 
not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your 
thoughts must be employed in designating.the person who 
is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me 
proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct ex- 
pression of the public voice, that I should now apprize you 
of the resolution I have formed, to decline being consid- 
ered among the number of those out of whom the choice 
is to be made. 

I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be 
assured, that this reso\ution has not been taken without a 
strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the 
relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and 
that, in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in 
my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminu- 
tion of zeal for your future interest ; no deficiency of 
grateful respect for your past kindness; but am supported 
by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both. 

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the 
office to which your suffrages have twice called me, have 
been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of 
duty, and to a deference for what appeared to be your de- 
sire. I constantly hoped that it would have been much 
earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was 
not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement 
from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength 
of my inclination to do this, previous to the last, election, 
had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it 
to you ; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and 
critical posture of affairs with foreign nations, and the 
unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, 
impelled me to abandon the idea. I rejoice that the state 
of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer 
renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the 



36 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

sentiment of duty or propriety ; and am persuaded, what- 
ever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in the 
present circumstances of our country, you will not disap- 
prove of my determination to retire. 

The impressions with which I first undertook the ardu- 
ous trust, were explained on the proper occasion. In the 
discharge of this trust, I will only say that I have, with 
good intentions, contributed towards the organization and 
administration of the government the best exertions of 
which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not uncon- 
scious, in the outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications, 
experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes 
of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of 
myself; and, every day, the increasing weight of years 
admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retire- 
ment is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied 
that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my 
services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to 
believe, that while choice and prudence invite me to quit 
the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. 

In looking forward to the moment which is to terminate 
the career of my political life, my feelings do not permit 
me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of 
gratitude which I owe to my beloved country for the many 
honors it has conferred upon me ; still more for the stead- 
fast confidence with which it has supported me; and for 
the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my 
inviolable attachment, by services faithful and persevering, 
though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have 
resulted to our country from these services, let it always 
be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive ex- 
ample in our annals, that under circumstances in which 
the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to 
mislead — amidst appearances sometimes dubious — vicis- 
situdes of fortune often discouraging — in situations in 
which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced 
the spirit of criticism — the constancy of your support was 
the essential prop of the efforts, and a guaranty of the 
plans, by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated 
with this idea, I shall carry it with me to the grave, as a 
strong incitement to unceasing wishes, that Heaven may 



Washington's farewell address. 37 

continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence — 
that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual 
— that the free constitution which is the work of your 
hands may be sacredly maintained — that its administra- 
tion in every department may be stamped with wisdom 
and virtue — that, in fine, the happiness of the people of 
these states, under the auspices of liberty, may be made 
complete, by so careful a preservation, and so prudent a 
use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of 
recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adop- 
tion of every nation which is yet a stranger to it. 

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for 
your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the 
apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge 
me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn 
contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, 
some sentiments, which are the result of much reflection, 
of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me 
all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. 
These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as 
you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a 
parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motives 
to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encourage- 
ment to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a 
former and not dissimilar occasion. 

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament 
of our hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to 
fortify or confirm the attachment. 

The unity of government, which constitutes you one 
people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so ; for it is a 
main pillar in the edifice of your real independence; the 
support of your tranquillity at home ; your peace abroad ; 
of your safety ; of your prosperity ; of that very liberty 
which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee, 
that, from different causes and from different quarters, much 
pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in 
your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the 
point in your political fortress against which the batteries 
of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and 
actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed; 
it is of infinite moment, that yon should properly estimate 
4 



38 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

the immense value of your national union to your collec* 
tive and individual happiness ; that you should cherish a 
cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it ; ac- 
customing yourselves to think and to speak of it as a 
palladium of your political safety and prosperity ; watching 
for its preservation with jealous anxiety ; discountenancing 
whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any 
event be abandoned ; and indignantly frowning upon the 
first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of 
our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties 
which now link together the various parts. 

For this you have every inducement of sympathy and 
interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common coun- 
try, that country has a right to concentrate your affections, 
The name of American, which belongs to you in your 
national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of 
patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local 
discriminations. With slight shades of difference you 
have the same religion, manners, habits, and political 
principle. You have, in a common cause, fought and 
triumphed together; the independence and liberty you 
possess, are the work of joint councils and joint efforts 
— of common dangers, sufferings, and success. 

But these considerations, however powerfully they ad- 
dress themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed 
by those which apply more immediately to your interest. 
Here every portion of our country finds the most com- 
manding motives for carefully guarding and preserving 
the union of the whole. 

The north, in an unrestrained intercourse with the 
south, protected by the equal laws of a common govern- 
ment, finds in the productions of the latter great addi- 
tional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise, 
and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The 
south, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the same 
agency of the north, sees its agriculture grow and its 
commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels 
the seamen of the north, it finds its particular navigation 
invigorated — and while it contributes in different ways to 
nourish and increase the general mass of the national 
navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a mari- 



Washington's farewell address. 39 

time strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The 
east, in like intercourse with the west, already finds, and in 
the progressive improvement of interior communications by 
land and water, will more and more find a valuable vent 
for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or man- 
ufactures at home. The west derives from the east sup- 
plies requisite to its growth and comfort ; and what is 
perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity 
owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its 
own productions, to the weight, influence, and the future 
maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, di- 
rected by an indissoluble community of interest as one 
nation. Any other tenure by which the west can hold 
this essential advantage, whether derived from its own 
separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural 
connection with any foreign power, must be intrinsically 
precarious. 

While, then, every part of our country thus feels an im- 
mediate and particular interest in union, all the parts com- 
bined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and 
efforts, greater strength, greater resource, proporti mably 
greater security from external danger, a less frequent in- 
terruption of their peace by foreign nations ; and, what is 
of inestimable value, they must derive from union an 
exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, 
which so frequently afflict neighboring countries, not tied 
together by the same government, which their own rival- 
ships alone would be sufficient to produce ; but which op- 
posite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues, would 
stimulate and imbitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid 
the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, 
which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to 
liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile 
to republican liberty. In this sense it is, that your union 
ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and 
that the love of the one ought to endear to you the pres- 
ervation of the other. 

These considerations speak a persuasive language to 
every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the con- 
tinuance of the union as a primary object of patriotic 
desire. Is there a doubt whether a common government 



40 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

can embrace so large a sphere ? Let experience solve it. 
To listen to mere speculation in such a case were crimi- 
nal. We are authorized to hope that a proper organization 
of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments for 
the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue of the 
experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. 
With such powerful and obvious motives to union, affect- 
ing all parts of our country, while experience shall not 
have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always 
be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who in any 
quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands. 

In contemplating the causes which may disturb our 
union, it occurs as matter of serious concern that any 
ground should have been furnished for characterizing 
parties by geographical discriminations — Northern and 
Southern ; Atlantic and Western ; whence designing men 
may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real differ- 
ence of local interests and views. One of the expedients 
of party to acquire influence within particular districts, is 
to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. 
You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jeal- 
ousies and heart-burnings which spring from these misrep- 
resentations ; they tend to render alien to each other those 
who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection, 
The inhabitants of our western country have lately had a 
useful lesson on this head. They have seen in the negotia- 
tion by the executive, and in the unanimous ratification by 
the senate of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal 
satisfaction at that event throughout the United States, a 
decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propa- 
gated among them of a policy in the general government, 
and in the Atlantic states, unfriendly to their interests in 
regard to the Mississippi. They have been witnesses to 
the formation of two treaties, — that with Great Britain, and 
that with Spain, — which secure to them every thing they 
could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards 
confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom 
to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the union 
by which they were procured ? Will they not henceforth 
be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever 
them from their brethren, and connect them with aliens? 



Washington's farewell address. 41 

To the efficacy and permanency of your union, a gov- 
ernment for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, 
however strict between the parts, can be an adequate sub- 
stitute ; they must inevitably experience the infractions and 
interruptions which alliances at all times have experienced. 
Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon 
your first essay, by the adoption of a constitution of o-ov- 
ernment better calculated than your former for an intimate 
union, and for the efficacious management of your com- 
mon concerns. This government, the offspring of your 
own choice, uninfluenced and unawed ; adopted upon full 
investigation and mature deliberation ; completely free in 
its principles ; in the distribution of its powers uniting se- 
curity with energy, and containing within itself provision 
for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence 
and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance 
with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties en- 
joined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The ba- 
sis of our political system is the right of the people to make 
arid to alter their constitutions of government. But the 
constitution which at any time exists, until changed by an 
explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly 
obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the 
ffight of the people to establish government, presupposes the 
duty of every individual to obey the established government. 

All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all com- 
binations and associations, under whatever plausible char- 
acter, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or 
awe, the regular deliberations and action of the constituted 
authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, 
and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction ; to 
give it an artificial and extraordinary force ; to put in the 
place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of party, 
often a small, but artful and enterprising minority of the 
community ; and according to the alternate triumphs of 
different parties, to make the public administration the 
mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of 
faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome 
plans, digested by common counsels and modified by mu- 
tual interests. 

However combinations or associations of the above de- 
4* 



42 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

scription may now and then answer popular ends, they 
are likely, in the course of time and things, to become 
potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprin- 
cipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the 
people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of govern- 
ment ; destroying afterwards the very engines which have 
lifted them to unjust dominion. 

Towards the preservation of your government, and the 
permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite not 
only that you steadily discountenance irregular opposition 
to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with 
care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however 
specious the pretext. One method of assault may be to 
effect in the forms of the constitution alterations which will 
impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine 
what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to 
which you may be invited, remember that time and habit 
are at least as necessary to fix the true character of gov- 
ernments, as of other human institutions; that experience 
is the suresLstandard by which to test the real tendency of 
the existing constitutions of a country; that facility in 
changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, 
exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of 
hypothesis and opinion ; and remember especially, that 
for the efficient management of your common interests, in 
a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much 
vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty, 
is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a govern- 
ment, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its 
surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, 
where the government is too feeble to withstand the enter- 
prises of faction, to confine each member of society within 
the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in 
the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person 
and property. 

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties 
in the state, with particular reference to the founding 
of them upon geographical discriminations. Let me now 
take a more comprehensive view, and warn you, in the 
most solemn manner, against the baneful effects of the 
spirit of party generally. 



Washington's farewell address. 43 

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our na- 
ture, having its root in the strongest passions of the human 
mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, 
more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed ; but in those 
of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and 
is truly their worst enemy. 

The alternate domination of one faction over another, 
sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissen- 
sion, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated 
the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. 
But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent 
despotism. The disorders and miseries which result, grad- 
ually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose 
in the absolute power of an individual ; and, sooner or 
later, the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or 
more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition 
to the purposes of his own elevation on the ruins of the 
public liberty. 

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, 
(which, nevertheless, ought not to be entirely out of sight,) 
the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party 
are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise 
people to discourage and restrain it. 

It serves always to distract the public councils, and en- 
feeble the public administration. It agitates the com- 
munity with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms ; kindles 
the animosity of one part against another ; foments occa- 
sional riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign 
influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access 
to the government itself, through the channels of party 
passion. Thus the policy and will of one country are sub- 
jected to the policy and will of another. 

There is an opinion that parties in free countries are 
useful checks upon the administration of the government, 
and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This, within 
certain limits, is probably true ; and in governments of a 
monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if 
not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of 
the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a 
spirit not to be encouraged. From the natural tendency, 
it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for 



44 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

every salutary purpose ; and there being constant danger 
of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opin- 
ion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, 
it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into 
a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. 

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking, in 
a free country, should inspire caution, in those intrusted 
with its administration, to confine themselves within their 
respective constitutional spheres ; avoiding, in the exer- 
cise of the powers of one department, to encroach upon 
another. The spirit of encroachment, tends to consolidate 
the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to 
create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. 
A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to 
abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is suf- 
ficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The 
necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political 
power, by dividing and distributing it into different depos- 
itories, and constituting each the guardian of the public 
weal against invasions of the other, has been evinced by 
experiments, ancient and modern ; some of them in our 
country, and under our own eyes. To preserve them 
must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the 
opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of 
the constitutional powers be, in any particular, wrong, let 
it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the 
constitution designates. But let there be no change by 
usurpation ; for though this, in one instance, may be the 
instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which 
free governments are destroyed. The precedent must 
always greatly overbalance, in permanent evil, any partial 
or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield. 

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political 
prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. 
In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, 
who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human 
happiness — these firmest props of the duties of men and 
citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, 
ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could 
not trace all their connection with private and public 
felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for 



Washington's farewell address. 45 

property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious 
obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of 
investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with cau- 
tion indulge the supposition that morality can be main- 
tained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to 
the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar 
structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect 
that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious 
principles. 

It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a neces- 
sary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, 
extends, with more or less force, to every species of free 
government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look 
with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation 
of the fabric 1 

Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, in- 
stitutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In pro- 
portion as the structure of a government gives force to 
public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should 
be enlightened. 

As a very important source of strength and security, 
cherish public credit. One method of preserving it, is to 
use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of ex- 
pense by cultivating peace, but remembering, also, that 
timely disbursements to prepare for danger, frequently 
prevent much greater disbursements to repel it ; avoiding, 
likewise, the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning 
occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of 
peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars 
have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon pos- 
terity the burdens which we ourselves ought to bear. 
The execution of these maxims belongs to your represen- 
tatives ; but it is necessary that public opinion should co- 
operate. To facilitate to them the performance of their 
duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in 
mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be 
revenue ; that to have revenue there must be taxes ; that 
no taxes can be devised which are not more or less incon- 
venient and unpleasant ; that the intrinsic embarrassment, 
inseparable from the selection of the proper objects, 
(which is always a choice of difficulties,) ought to be a 



40 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct 
of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acqui- 
escence in the measures for obtaining revenue which the 
public exigencies may at any time dictate. 

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations ; 
cultivate peace and harmony with all ; religion and mo- 
rality enjoin this conduct ; and can it be that good policy 
does not equally enjoin it ? It will be worthy of a free, 
enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great nation, to 
give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example 
of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benev- 
olence. Who can doubt but that, in the course of time 
and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any 
temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady 
adherence to it ? Can it be that Providence has connected 
the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue 1 The 
experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment 
which ennobles human nature. Alas ! it is rendered im- 
possible by its vices ! 

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essen- 
tial than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against 
particular nations, and passionate attachment for others, 
should be excluded ; and that, in the place of them, just 
and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. 
The nation which indulges towards another an habitual 
hatred, or an habitual fondness, is, in some degree, a 
slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, 
either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty 
and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another, 
disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to 
lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty 
and intractable when accidental or trifling occasions of 
dispute occur. 

Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and 
bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and 
resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, 
contrary to the best calculations of policy. The govern- 
ment sometimes participates in the national propensity, 
and adopts, through passion, what reason would reject; at 
other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subser- 
vient to the projects of hostility, instigated by pride, am- 



Washington's farewell address. 47 

bition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The 
peace often, sometimes, perhaps, the liberty of nations 
has been the victim, 

So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for 
another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the 
favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary 
common interest in cases where no real common interest 
exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, 
betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and 
the wars of the latter, without adequate inducements or 
justification. It leads, also, to concessions to the favor- 
ite nation of privileges denied to others, which are apt 
doubly to injure the nation making the concessions, by 
unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been re- 
tained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition 
to retaliate in the parties from whom equal privileges are 
withheld ; and it gives to ambitious, corrupt, or deluded 
citizens, (who devote themselves to the favorite nation,) 
facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own 
country without odium, sometimes even with popularity; 
gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obli- 
gation to a commendable deference for public opinion, or 
a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish com- 
pliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. 

As avenues to foreign influence, in innumerable ways, 
such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly 
enlightened and independent patriot. How many oppor- 
tunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, 
to practise the art of seduction, to mislead public opinion, 
to influence or awe the public councils ! Such an attach- 
ment of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful 
nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. 
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I con- 
jure you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a 
free people ought to be constantly awake, since history 
and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the 
most baneful foes of republican government. But that 
jealousy, too, to be useful, must be impartial, else it be- 
comes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, 
instead of a defence against it. Excessive partiality for 
one foreign nation, and excessive dislike for another, 



48 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one 
side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influ- 
ence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the in- 
trigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and 
odious ; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and 
confidence of the people to surrender their interests. 

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign 
nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have 
with them as little political connection as possible. So 
far as we have already formed engagements, let them be 
fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. 

Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have 
none, or a very remote relation. Hence, she must be en- 
gaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are 
essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, 
it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by arti- 
ficial ties, in the ordinary vicissitude of her politics, or 
the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships 
or enmities. 

Our detached and distant situation invites and enables 
us to pursue a different course. If we remain one peo- 
ple, under an efficient government, the period is not far 
off when we may defy material injury from external an- 
noyance ; when we may take such an attitude as will 
cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon, to 
be scrupulously respected ; when belligerent nations, un- 
der the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will 
not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we 
may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by jus- 
tice, shall counsel. 

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? 
Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground ? Why, 
by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Eu- 
rope, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of 
European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? 

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances 
with any portion of the foreign world ; so far, I mean, as 
we are now at liberty to do it ; for let me not be under- 
stood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing en- 
gagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public 
than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best 



Washington's farewell address. 49 

policy. I repeat, therefore, let those engagements be ob- 
served in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is 
unnecessary, and would be unwise, to extend them. 

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable estab- 
lishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may 
safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emer- 
gencies. 

Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nations, 
are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But 
even our commercial policy should hold an equal and 
impartial hand ; neither seeking nor granting exclusive 
favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of 
things ; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the 
stream of commerce, but forcing nothing ; establishing 
with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable 
course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to ena- 
ble the government to support them, conventional rules 
of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and 
natural opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to 
be, from time to time, abandoned or varied, as experience 
and circumstances shall dictate ; constantly keeping in 
view that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested 
favors from another ; that it must pay with a portion of 
its independence for whatever it may accept under that 
character; that by such acceptance, it may place itself in 
the condition of having given equivalents for nominal 
favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for 
not giving more. There can be no greater error than to 
expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. 
It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a 
just pride ought to discard. 

In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of 
an old, affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make 
the strong and lasting impression I could wish — that they 
will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent 
our nation from running the course which has hitherto 
marked the destiny of nations. But if I may even flatter 
myself that they may be productive of some partial ben- 
efit, some occasional good ; that they may now and then 
recur to moderate the fury of party spirit ; to warn against 
the mischiefs of foreign intrigue ; to guard against the 
5 



50 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

impostures of pretended patriotism ; this hope will be a 
full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare by 
which they have been dictated. 

How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have 
been guided by the principles which have been delineated, 
the public records and other evidences of my conduct must 
witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assur- 
ance of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed 
myself to be guided by them. 

In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my 
proclamation of the 22d of April, 1793, is the index to 
my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by 
that of your representatives in both houses of Congress, 
the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, 
uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. 

After deliberate examination, with the aids of the best 
lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our coun- 
try, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right 
to take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a 
neutral position. Having taken it, I determined, as far 
as should depend upon me, to maintain it with modera- 
tion, perseverance, and firmness. 

The considerations which respect the right to hold 
this conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to 
detail. I will only observe, that, according to my un- 
derstanding of the matter, that right, so far from being 
denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually 
admitted by all. 

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, 
without any thing more, from the obligation which justice 
and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which 
it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace 
and amity towards other nations. 

The inducements of interest for observing that conduct, 
will best be referred to your own reflections and expe- 
rience. With me, a predominant motive has been to 
endeavor to gain time to our country, to settle and mature 
its yet recent institutions, and to progress, without inter- 
ruption, to that degree of strength and constancy, which 
is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command 
of its own fortune. 



ADDRESS. 51 

Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administra- 
tion, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am, never- 
theless, too sensible of my defects not to think it probable 
that I may have committed many errors. Whatever 
they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert 
or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall 
also carry with me the hope that my country will never 
cease to view them with indulgence ; and that, after 
forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service, with an 
upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be 
consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the 
mansions of rest. 

Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and 
actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so nat- 
ural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself 
and his progenitors for several generations, — I anticipate, 
with pleasing expectation, that retreat, in which I promise 
myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of 
partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign 
influence of good laws, under a free government — the 
ever favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, 
as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. 



J. ADAMS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

March 4, 1797. 

When it was first perceived, in early times, that no 
middle course for America remained, between unlimited 
submission to a foreign legislature, and a total independ- 
ence of its claims, men of reflection were less apprehen- 
sive of danger from the formidable power of fleets and 
armies they must determine to resist, than from those 
contests and dissensions which would certainly arise con- 
cerning the forms of government to be instituted over the 
whole, and over the parts of this extensive country. Re- 
lying, however, on the purity of their intentions, the justice 
of their cause, and the integrity and intelligence of the 



52 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

people, under an overruling Providence which had so 
signally protected this country from the first, the repre- 
sentatives of this nation, then consisting of little more than 
half its present number, not only broke to pieces the chains 
which were forging, and the rod of iron that was lifted up, 
but frankly cut asunder the ties which had bound them, 
and launched into an ocean of uncertainty. 

The zeal and ardor of the people, during the revolu- 
tionary war, supplying the place of government, com- 
manded a degree of order, sufficient at least for the 
temporary preservation of society. The confederation, 
which was early felt to be necessary, was prepared from 
the models of the Batavian and Helvetic confederacies — 
the only examples which remain, with any detail and pre- 
cision in history, and certainly the only ones which the 
people at large had ever considered. But, reflecting on 
the striking difference, in so many particulars, between this 
country and those where a courier may go from the seat 
of government to the frontier in a single day, it was then 
certainly foreseen, by some who assisted in Congress at the 
formation of it, that it could not be durable. 

Negligence of its regulations, inattention to its recom- 
mendations, if not disobedience to its authority, not only 
in individuals, but in states, soon appeared with their 
melancholy consequences — universal languor; jealousies 
and rivalries of states; decline of navigation and com- 
merce; discouragement of necessary manufactures; uni- 
versal fall in the value of lands and their produce; con- 
tempt of public and private faith ; loss of consideration 
and credit with foreign nations; and, at length, in dis- 
contents, animosities, combinations, partial conventions, 
and insurrection, threatening some great national calamity. 

In this dangerous crisis, the people of America were 
not abandoned by their usual good sense, presence of 
mind, resolution, or integrity. Measures were pursued to 
concert a plan to form a more perfect union, establish 
justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the com- 
mon defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the 
blessings of liberty. The public disquisitions, discussions, 
and deliberations, issued in the present happy constitution 
of government. 



ADAMs's INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 53 

Employed in the service of my country abroad during 
the whole course of these transactions, I first saw the 
constitution of the United States in a foreign country. 
Irritated by no literary altercation, animated by no public 
debate, heated by no party animosity, I read it with great 
satisfaction, as a result of good heads, prompted by good 
hearts; as an experiment better adapted to the genius, 
character, situation, and relations of this nation and 
country, than any which had ever been proposed or sug- 
gested. In its general principles and great outlines, it 
was conformable to such a system of government as I had 
ever most esteemed, and some states, my own native state 
in particular, had contributed to establish. Claiming a 
right of suffrage, in common with my fellow-citizens, in 
the adoption or rejection of a constitution which was to 
rule me and my posterity, as well as them and theirs, I did 
not hesitate to express my approbation of it, on all occa- 
sions, in public and in private. It was not then, nor has 
been since, any objection to it, in my mind, that the 
executive and senate were not more permanent. Nor 
have I ever entertained a thought of promoting any alter- 
ation in it, but such as the people themselves, in the course 
of their experience, should see and feel to be necessary or 
expedient, and by their representatives in Congress and 
the state legislatures, according to the constitution itself, 
adopt and ordain. 

Returning to the bosom of my country, after a painful 
separation from it for ten years, I had the honor to be 
elected to a station under the new order of things, and I 
have repeatedly laid myself under the most serious obliga- 
tions to support the constitution. The operation of it has 
equalled the most sanguine expectations of its friends ; and, 
from an habitual attention to it, satisfaction in its admin- 
istration, and delight in its effects upon the peace, order, 
prosperity, and happiness of the nation, I have acquired 
an habitual attachment to it, and veneration for it. 

What other form of government, indeed, can so well 
deserve our esteem and love 1 

There may be little solidity in an ancient idea that con- 
gregations of men into cities and nations are the most 



54 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

pleasing objects in the sight of superior intelligences; but 
this is very certain, that to a benevolent human mind, there 
can be no spectacle presented by any nation more pleasing, 
more noble, majestic, or august, than an assembly like that 
which has so often been seen in this and the other cham- 
ber of Congress, of a government, in which the executive 
authority, as well as that of all the branches of the legisla- 
ture, are exercised by citizens selected, at regular periods, 
by their neighbors, to make and execute laws for the 
general good. Can any thing essential, any thing more 
than mere ornament and decoration, be added to this by 
robes and diamonds ? Can authority be more amiable and 
respectable, when it descends from accidents, or institutions 
established in remote antiquity, than when it springs fresh 
from the hearts and judgments of an honest and enlightened 
people ? For it is the people only that are represented : it 
is their power and majesty that is reflected, and only for 
their good, in every legitimate government, under what- 
ever form it may appear. The existence of such a gov- 
ernment as ours, for any length of time, is a full proof of a 
general dissemination of knowledge and virtue throughout 
the whole body of the people. And what object or con- 
sideration more pleasing than this, can be presented to the 
human mind? If national pride is ever justifiable, or 
excusable, it is when it springs not from power or 
riches, grandeur or glory, but from conviction of national 
innocence, information, and benevolence. 

In the midst of these pleasing ideas, we should be un- 
faithful to ourselves, if we should ever lose sight of the 
danger to our liberties, if any thing partial or extraneous 
should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and 
independent elections. If an election is to be determined 
by a majority of a single vote, and that can be procured 
by a party, through artifice or corruption, the government 
may be the choice of a party, for its own ends, not of the 
nation for the national good. If that solitary suffrage can 
be obtained by foreign nations by flattery or menaces, by 
fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the gov- 
ernment may not be the choice of the American people, 
but of foreign nations. It may be foreign nations who 



55 

govern us, and not we, the people, who govern ourselves. 
And candid men will acknowledge, that, in such cases, 
choice would have little advantage to boast of, over lot or 
chance. 

Such is the amiable and interesting system of govern- 
ment (and such are some of the abuses to which it may be 
exposed) which the people of America have exhibited to 
the admiration and anxiety of the wise and virtuous of all 
nations for eight years, under the administration of a 
citizen who, by a long course of great actions, regulated 
by prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude, conduct- 
ing a people, inspired with the same virtues, and animated 
with the same ardent patriotism and love of liberty, to in- 
dependence and peace, to increasing wealth and unex- 
ampled prosperity, has merited the gratitude of his fellow- 
citizens, commanded the highest praises of foreign nations, 
and secured immortal glory with posterity. 

In that retirement which is his voluntary choice, may 
he long live to enjoy the delicious recollection of his 
services, the gratitude of mankind, the happy fruits of 
them to himself and the world, which are daily increasing, 
and that splendid prospect of the future fortunes of this 
country which is opening from year to year. His name 
may be still a rampart, and the knowledge that he lives, a 
bulwark against all open or secret enemies of his country's 
peace. This example has been recommended to the im- 
itation of his successors by both houses of Congress, and 
by the voice of the legislatures and the people throughout 
the nation. 

On this subject it might become me better to be silent, 
or to speak with diffidence ; but as something may be 
expected, the occasion, I hope, will be admitted as an 
apology, if I venture to say, That, 

If a preference, upon principle, of a free republican 
government, formed upon long and serious reflection, after 
a diligent and impartial inquiry after truth ; if an attach- 
ment to the constitution of the United States, and a con- 
scientious determination to support it, until it shall be 
altered by the judgments and wishes of the people, expressed 
in the mode prescribed in it; if a respectful attention to 



56 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

the constitutions of the individual states, and a constant 
caution and delicacy towards the state governments; if an 
equal and impartial regard to the rights, interest, honor, 
and happiness of all the states in the Union, without pref- 
erence or regard to a northern or southern, an eastern or 
western position, their various political opinions on unes- 
sential points, or their personal attachments; if a love of 
virtuous men of all parties and denominations ; if a love of 
science and letters, and a wish to patronize every rational ef- 
fort to encourage schools, colleges, universities, academies, 
and every institution for propagating knowledge, virtue, 
and religion, among all classes of the people, not only for 
their benign influence on the happiness of life in all its 
stages and classes, and of society in all its forms, but as 
the only means of preserving our constitution from its 
natural enemies, the spirit of sophistry, the spirit of party, 
the spirit of intrigue, the profligacy of corruption, and the 
pestilence of foreign influence, which is the angel of 
destruction to elective governments; if a love of equal 
laws, of justice, and humanity in the interior administra- 
tion ; if an inclination to improve agriculture, commerce, 
and manufactures, for necessity, convenience, and defence ; 
if a spirit of equity and humanity towards the aboriginal 
nations of America, and a disposition to meliorate their 
condition by inclining them to be more friendly to us, and 
our citizens to be more friendly to them ; if an inflexible 
determination to maintain peace and inviolable faith with 
all nations, and that system of neutrality and impartiality 
among the belligerent powers of Europe which has been 
adopted by this government, and so solemnly sanctioned 
by both houses of Congress, and applauded by the legis- 
latures of the states and the public opinion, until it shall 
be otherwise ordained by Congress ; if a personal esteem 
for the French nation, formed in a residence of seven 
years, chiefly among them, and a sincere desire to preserve 
the friendship which has been so much for the honor and 
interest of both nations ; if, while the conscious honor and 
integrity of the people of America, and the internal senti- 
ment of their own power and energies must be preserved, 
an earnest endeavor to investigate every just cause, and 



ADAMS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 57 

remove every colorable pretence of complaint ; if an inten- 
tion to pursue by amicable negotiation a reparation for 
the injuries that have been committed on the commerce 
of our fellow-citizens by whatever nation ; and if success 
cannot be obtained, to lay the facts before the legislature, 
that they may consider what further measures the honor 
and interest of the government and its constituents de- 
mand ; if a resolution to do justice, as far as may depend 
upon me, at all times and to all nations, and maintain 
peace, friendship, and benevolence with all the world ; if 
an unshaken confidence in the honor, spirit, and resources 
of the American people, on which I have so often hazarded 
my all, and never been deceived; if elevated ideas of the 
high destinies of this country, and of my own duties towards 
it, founded on a knowledge of the moral principles and in- 
tellectual improvements of the people, deeply engraven on 
my mind in early life, and not obscured, but exalted by 
experience and age ; and, with humble reverence, I feel it 
to be my duty to add, if a veneration for the religion of a 
people who profess and call themselves Christians, and a 
fixed resolution to consider a decent respect for Christianity 
among the best recommendations for the public service, 
can enable me, in any degree, to comply with your wishes, 
it shall be my strenuous endeavor, that this sagacious in- 
junction of the two houses shall not be without effect. 

With this great example before me, with the sense and 
spirit, the faith and honor, the duty and interest, of the 
same American people, pledged to support the constitution 
of the United States, I entertain no doubt of its continu- 
ance in all its energy, and my mind is prepared, without 
hesitation, to lay myself under the most solemn obligations 
to support it to the utmost of my power. 

And may that Being who is supreme over all, the Patron 
of order, the Fountain of justice, and the Protector, in all 
ages of the world, of virtuous liberty, continue his blessing 
upon this nation and its government, and give it all possi- 
ble success and duration consistent with the ends of his 
providence. 



58 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

J. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESS. 

November 23, 1797. 

Gentlemen of the Senate 

and House of Representatives : 

1 was for some time apprehensive that it would be 
necessary, on account of the contagious sickness which 
afflicted the city of Philadelphia, to convene the national 
legislature at some other place. This measure it was 
desirable to avoid, because it would occasion much public 
inconvenience, and a considerable public expense, and 
add to the calamities of the inhabitants of this city, whose 
sufferings must have excited the sympathy of all their 
fellow-citizens ; therefore, after taking measures to ascer- 
tain the state and decline of the sickness, I postponed my 
determination, having hopes, now happily realized, that, 
without hazard to the lives of the members, Congress 
might assemble at this place, where it was by law next to 
meet. I submit, however, to your consideration, whether 
a power to postpone the meeting of Congress, without 
passing the time fixed by the constitution, upon such oc- 
casions, would not be a useful amendment to the law of 
one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four. 

Although I cannot yet congratulate you on the re- 
establishment of peace in Europe, and the restoration of 
security to the persons and properties of our citizens from 
injustice and violence at sea, — we have, nevertheless, 
abundant cause of gratitude to the Source of benevolence 
and influence, for interior tranquillity and personal secu- 
rity, for propitious seasons, prosperous agriculture, pro- 
ductive fisheries, and general improvements, and, above 
all, for a rational spirit of civil and religious liberty, and 
a calm but steady determination to support our sover- 
eignty, as well as our moral and religious principles, 
against all open and secret attacks. 

Our envoys extraordinary to the French republic em- 
barked, one in July, the other early in August, to join 
their colleague in Holland. I have received intelligence 
of the arrival of both of them in Holland, from whence 



ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESS. 59 

they all proceeded on their journey to Paris, within a few 
days of the 19th of September. Whatever may be the 
result of this mission, I trust that nothing will have been 
omitted, on my part, to conduct the negotiation to a suc- 
cessful conclusion, on such equitable terms as may be 
compatible with the safety, honor, and interest of the 
United States. Nothing, in the mean time, will contrib- 
ute so much to the preservation of peace, and the attain- 
ment of justice, as a manifestation of that energy and 
unanimity, of which, on many former occasions, the 
people of the United States have given such memorable 
proofs, and the exertion of those resources for national 
defence which a beneficent Providence has kindly placed 
within their power. 

It may be confidently asserted that nothing has oc- 
curred, since the adjournment of Congress, which renders 
inexpedient those precautionary measures recommended by 
me to the consideration of the two houses, at the opening 
of your late extraordinary session. If that system was 
then prudent, it is more so now, as increasing depreda- 
tions strengthen the reasons for its adoption. 

Indeed, whatever may be the issue of the negotiation 
with France, or whether the war in Europe is, or is not, 
to continue, I hold it most certain, that permanent tran- 
quillity and order will not soon be obtained. The state 
of society has so long been disturbed, the sense of moral 
and religious obligations so much weakened, public faith 
and national honor have been so impaired, respect to trea- 
ties has been so diminished, and the law of nations has 
lost so much of its force, — while pride, ambition, avarice, 
and violence, have been so long unrestrained, — there re- 
mains no reasonable ground on which to raise an expecta- 
tion, that a commerce without protection or defence will 
not be plundered. 

The commerce of the United States is essential, if not 
to their existence, at least to their comfort, their growth, 
prosperity, and happiness. The genius, character, and 
habits of the people are highly commercial ; their cities 
have been formed and exist upon commerce; our agricul- 
ture, fisheries, arts, and manufactures, are connected with 
and depend upon it. In short, commerce has made this 



60 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

country what it is, and it cannot be destroyed or neglected 
without involving the people in poverty and distress. 
Great numbers are directly and solely supported by navi- 
gation ; the faith of society is pledged for the preservation 
of the rights of commercial and seafaring, no less than 
of the other citizens. Under this view of our affairs, I 
should hold myself guilty of a neglect of duty, if I forbore 
to recommend that we should make every exertion to 
protect our commerce, and to place our country in a 
suitable posture of defence, as the only sure means of pre- 
serving both. 

I have entertained an expectation that it would have 
been in my power, at the opening of this session, to have 
communicated to you the agreeable information of the 
due execution of our treaty with his Catholic majesty, 
respecting the withdrawing of his troops from our terri- 
tory, and the demarkation of the line of limits ; but, by 
the latest authentic intelligence, Spanish garrisons were 
still continued within our country, and the running of the 
boundary line had not been commenced ; these circum- 
stances are the more to be regretted, as they cannot fail 
to affect the Indians in a manner injurious to the United 
States. Still, however, indulging the hope that the an- 
swers which have been given will remove the objections 
offered by the Spanish officers to the immediate execution 
of the treaty, I have judged it proper that we should con- 
tinue in readiness to receive the posts, and to run the line 
of limits. Further information on this subject will be 
communicated in the course of the session. 

In connection with this unpleasant state of things on 
our western frontier, it is proper for me to mention the 
attempts of foreign agents to alienate the affections of the 
Indian nations, and to excite them to actual hostilities 
against the United States ; great activity has been ex- 
erted by those persons who have insinuated themselves 
among the Indian tribes residing within the territory of 
the United States, to influence them to transfer their af- 
fections and force to a foreign nation, to form them into a 
confederacy, and prepare them for a war against the 
United States. Although measures have been taken to 
counteract these infractions of our rights, to prevent In- 



61 

dian hostilities, and to preserve entire their attachment 
to the United States, it is my duty to observe, that, to 
give a better effect to these measures, and to obviate the 
consequences of a repetition of such practices, a law pro- 
viding adequate punishment for such offences may be 
necessary. 

The commissioners appointed under the fifth article of 
the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, between 
the United States and Great Britain, to ascertain the river 
which was truly intended under the name of the River St. 
Croix, mentioned in the treaty of peace, met at Passama- 
quoddy Bay, in October, one thousand seven hundred 
and ninety-six, and viewed the mouths of the rivers in 
question, and adjacent shores on the islands ; and being 
of opinion, that actual surveys of both rivers, to their 
sources, were necessary, gave to the agents of the two 
nations instructions for that purpose, and adjourned to 
meet at Boston, in August. They met ; but the surveys 
requiring more time than had been supposed, and not 
being then completed, the commissioners again adjourned 
to meet at Providence, in the state of Rhode Island, 
in June next, when we may expect a final examination 
and decision. 

The commissioners appointed in pursuance of the sixth 
article of the treaty, met at Philadelphia, in May last, to 
examine the claims of British subjects for debts contracted 
before the peace, and still remaining due to them from 
citizens or inhabitants of the United States. Various 
causes have hitherto prevented any determinations ; but 
the business is now resumed, and doubtless will be pros- 
ecuted without interruption. 

Several decisions on the claims of the citizens of the 
United States for losses and damages sustained by reason 
of irregular and illegal captures or condemnations of their 
vessels or other property, have been made by the com- 
missioners in London, conformably to the seventh article 
of the treaty. The sums awarded by the commissioners 
have been paid by the British government ; a considerable 
number of other claims, where costs and damages, and not 
captured property, were the only objects in question, have 
6 



62 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



been decided by arbitration, and the sums awarded to the 
citizens of the United States have also been paid. 

The commissioners appointed agreeably to the twenty- 
first article of our treaty with Spain, met at Philadelphia, 
in the summer past, to examine and decide on the claims 
of our citizens for losses they have sustained in con- 
sequence of their vessels and cargoes having been taken 
by the subjects of his Catholic majesty during the late war 
between Spain and France. Their sittings have been 
interrupted, but are now resumed. 

The United States being obligated to make compen- 
sation for the losses and damages sustained by British 
subjects, upon the award of the commissioners acting 
under the sixth article of the treaty with Great Britain, 
and for the losses and damages sustained by British sub- 
jects, by reason of the capture of their vessels and mer- 
chandise, taken within the limits and jurisdiction of the 
United States, and brought into their ports, or taken by 
vessels originally armed in ports of the United States, 
upon the awards of the commissioners, acting under the 
seventh article of the same treaty ; it is necessary that 
provision be made for fulfilling these obligations. 

The numerous captures of American vessels by the 
cruisers of the French republic, and of some of those of 
Spain, have occasioned considerable expenses in making 
and supporting the claims of our citizens before their 
tribunals. The sums required for this purpose have, in 
divers instances, been disbursed by the consuls of the 
United States. By means of the same captures, great 
numbers of our seamen have been thrown ashore in 
foreign countries, destitute of all means of subsistence, 
and the sick, in particular, have been exposed to grievous 
sufferings. The consuls have, in these cases also, advanced 
money for their relief; for these advances they reasonably 
expect reimbursements from the United States. 

The consular act, relative to seamen, requires revision 
and amendment; the provisions for their support in for- 
eign countries, and for their return, are found to be inad- 
equate and ineffectual. Another provision seems neces- 
sary to be added to the consular act ; some foreign vessels 



ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESS. 63 

have been discovered sailing under the flag of the United 
States, and with forged papers; it seldom happens that 
the consuls can detect this deception, because they have 
no authority to demand an inspection of the registers and 
sea-letters. 

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives : 

It is my duty to recommend to your serious consider- 
ation, those objects, which, by the constitution, are placed 
particularly within your sphere — the national debts and 
taxes. 

Since the decay of the feudal system, by which the 
public defence was provided for chiefly at the expense 
of individuals, the system of loans has been introduced ; 
and as no nation can raise within the year, by taxes, suf- 
ficient sums for the defence and military operations in time 
of war, the sums loaned and debts contracted have neces- 
sarily become the subjects of what have been called funding 
systems. The consequences arising from the continual 
accumulation of public debts in other countries, ought 
to admonish us to be careful to prevent their growth in 
our own. The national defence must be provided for, as 
well as the support of government ; but both should be 
accomplished as much as possible by immediate taxes, 
and as little as possible by loans. 

The estimates for the service of the ensuing year will, 
by my direction, be laid before you. 

Gentlemen of the Senate 

and House of Representatives : 

We are met together at a most interesting period. The 
situations of the principal powers of Europe are singular 
and portentous. Connected with some by treaties, and 
with all by commerce, no important event there can be 
indifferent to us. Such circumstances call with peculiar 
importunity, not less for a disposition to unite in all those 
measures on which the honor,' safety, and prosperity of 
our country depend, than for all the exertions of wisdom 
and firmness. 

In all such measures you may rely on my zealous and 
hearty concurrence. 



64 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

JEFFERSON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

March 4, 1801 

Friends and Fellow-Citizens : 

Called upon to undertake the duties of the first exec- 
utive office of our country, I avail myself of the presence 
of that portion of my fellow-citizens which is here assem- 
bled, to express my grateful thanks for the favor with which 
they have been pleased to look towards me, to declare a 
sincere consciousness that the task is above my talents, 
and that I approach it with those anxious and awful 
presentiments, which the greatness of the charge, and the 
weakness of my powers, so justly inspire. A rising nation, 
spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the seas 
with the rich productions of their industry, engaged in 
commerce with nations who feel power and forget right, 
advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal 
eye; when I contemplate these transcendent objects, and 
see the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this beloved 
country committed to the issue and the auspices of this 
day, I shrink from the contemplation, and humble myself 
before the magnitude of the undertaking. Utterly indeed 
should I despair, did not the presence of many whom I here 
see remind me that, in the other high authorities provided 
by our constitution, I shall find resources of wisdom, of 
virtue, and of zeal, on which to rely under all difficulties. 
To you, then, gentlemen, who are charged with the 
sovereign functions of legislation, and to those associated 
with you, I look with encouragement for that guidance 
and support which may enable us to steer with safety the 
vessel in which we are all embarked, amid the conflicting 
elements of a troubled world. 

During the contest of opinion through which we have 
passed, the animation of discussion and exertions has 
sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers 
unused to think freely, and to speak and to write what they 
think ; but this being now decided by the voice of the 
nation, announced according to the rules of the constitu- 
tion, all will of course arrange themselves under the will 



65 

of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common 
good. All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that 
though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, 
that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable ; that the 
minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must 
protect, and to violate would be oppression. Let us, then, 
fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind ; let us 
restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection, 
without which, liberty, and even life itself, are but dreary 
things. And let us reflect, that, having; banished from our 
land that religious intolerance under which mankind so 
long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little, if we 
countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, 
and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During 
the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the 
agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood 
and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful 
that the agitation of the billows should reach even this 
distant and peaceful shore ; that this should be more felt 
and feared by some, and less by others ; that this should 
divide opinions as to measures of safety ; but every differ- 
ence of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have 
called by different names brethren of the same principle. 
We are all republicans ; we are all federalists. If there be 
any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union, or to 
change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed 
as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion 
may be tolerated, where reason is left free to combat it. 
I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a repub- 
lican government cannot be strong ; that this government 
is not strong enough. But would the honest patriot, in 
the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a govern- 
ment which has so far kept us free and firm, on the 
theoretic and visionary fear that this government, the 
world's best hope, may, by possibility, want energy to 
preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, 
the strongest government on earth. I believe it the only 
one where every man, at the call of the laws, would fly to 
the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the 
public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it 
is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of 
6* 



66 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government 
of others? or have we found angels in the form of kings, 
to govern him? Let history answer this question. 

Let us, then, with courage and confidence, pursue our 
own federal and republican principles, our attachment to 
our union and representative government. Kindly sep- 
arated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating 
havoc of one quarter of the globe ; too high-minded to 
endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen 
country, with room enough for our descendants to the 
thousandth and thousandth generation ; entertaining a due 
sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to 
the acquisitions of our industry, to honor and confidence 
from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from 
our actions and their sense of them ; enlightened by a 
benign religion, professed indeed and practised in various 
forms, yet all of them including honesty, truth, temperance, 
gratitude, and the love of man, acknowledging and adoring 
an overruling Providence, which, by all its dispensations, 
proves that it delights in the happiness of man here, and 
his greater happiness hereafter ; with all these blessings, 
what more is necessary to make us a happy and prosperous 
people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens — a wise 
and frugal government, which shall restrain men from 
injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to 
regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, 
and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it 
has earned. This is the sum of good government, and 
this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities. 

About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties 
which comprehend every thing dear and valuable to you, 
it is proper that you should understand what I deem the 
essential principles of our government, and consequently 
those which ought to shape its administration. I will 
compress them within the narrowest compass they will 
bear, stating the general principles, but not all its limita- 
tions — Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever 
state or persuasion, religious or political ; peace, commerce, 
and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances 
with none ; the support of the state governments in all 
their rights, as the most competent administration for our 



Jefferson's inaugural address. 67 

domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti- 
republican tendencies ; the preservation of the general 
government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet- 
anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad ; a jealous 
care of the right of election by the people ; a mild and 
safe corrective of abuses, which are lopped by the sword 
of revolution, where peaceable remedies are unprovided ; 
absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the 
vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal bu't 
to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of des- 
potism ; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in 
peace, and for the first moments of war, till regulars may 
relieve them ; the supremacy of the civil over the military 
authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may 
be lightly burdened ; the honest payment of our debts, and 
sacred preservation of the public faith ; encouragement of 
agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid ; the dif- 
fusion of information, and arraignment of all abuses at 
the bar of public reason ; freedom of religion ; freedom 
of the press ; and freedom of person, under the protection of 
the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected. 
These principles form the bright constellation which has 
gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of 
revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages 
and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attain- 
ment : they should be the creed of our political faith ; the 
text of civil instruction; the touchstone by which to try 
the services of those we trust ; and should we wander from 
them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace 
our steps, and to regain the road which alone leads to 
peace, liberty, and safety. 

I repair, then, fellow-citizens, to the post you have 
assigned me. With experience enough in subordinate 
offices to have seen the difficulties of this, the greatest 
of all, I have learnt to expect that it will rarely fall to 
the lot of imperfect man to retire from this station with 
the reputation and the favor which bring him into it. 
Without pretensions to that high confidence you reposed 
in our first and great revolutionary character, whose pre- 
eminent services had entitled him to the first place in his 
country's love, and destined for him the fairest page in 
the volume of faithful >«story, I ask so much confidence 



68 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

only as may give firmness and effect to the legal adminis- 
tration of your affairs. 1 shall often go wrong through 
defect of judgment. When right, I shall often be thought 
wrong by those whose positions will not command a view 
of the whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own 
errors, which will never be intentional ; and your support 
against the errors of others, who may condemn what they 
would not, if seen in all its parts. The approbation im- 
plied by your suffrage is a consolation to me for the past ; 
and my future solicitude will be to retain the good opinion 
of those who have bestowed it in advance, to conciliate 
that of others by doing them all the good in my power, 
and to be instrumental to the happiness and freedom of all. 
Relying, then, on the patronage of your good-will, I 
advance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from 
it whenever you become sensible how much better choice 
it is in your power to make. And may that infinite 
Power which rules the destinies of the universe, lead our 
councils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue 
for your peace and prosperity. 



December 8, 1801. 

Sir : The circumstances under which we find ourselves 
at this place rendering inconvenient the mode heretofore 
practised, of making by personal address the first com- 
munication between the legislative and executive branches, 
I have adopted that by message, as used on all subsequent 
occasions through the session. In doing this, I have had 
principal regard to the convenience of the legislature, to 
the economy of their time, to their relief from the embar- 
rassment of immediate answers on subjects not yet fully 
before them, and to the benefits thence resulting to the 
public affairs. Trusting that a procedure founded in these 
motives will meet their approbation, I beg leave, through 
you, sir, to communicate the enclosed message, with the 
documents accompanying it, to the honorable the Senate, 
and pray you to accept, for yourself and them, the homage 
of my high respect and consideration. 

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

The Honorable the 

President of the Senate. 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 69 

JEFFERSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 

December 8, 1801. 

Fellow -Citizens of the Senate 

and House of Representatives : 

It is a circumstance of sincere gratification to me that, 
on meeting the great council of our nation, I am able to 
announce to them, on grounds of reasonable certainty, 
that the wars and troubles which have for so many years 
afflicted our sister nations, have at length come to an end, 
and that the communications of peace and commerce are 
once more opening among them. Whilst we devoutly 
return thanks to the beneficent Being who has been 
pleased to breathe into them the spirit of conciliation and 
forgiveness, we are bound, with peculiar gratitude, to be 
thankful to him that our own peace has been preserved 
through so perilous a season, and ourselves permitted 
quietly to cultivate the earth, and to practise and improve 
those arts which tend to increase our comforts. The 
assurances, indeed, of friendly disposition, received from all 
the powers with whom we have principal relations, had 
inspired a confidence that our peace with them would not 
have been disturbed. But a cessation of irregularities 
which had affected the commerce of neutral nations, and 
of the irritations and injuries produced by them, cannot 
but add to this confidence, and strengthens, at the same 
time, the hope that wrongs committed on unoffending 
friends, under a pressure of circumstances, will now be 
reviewed with candor, and will be considered as founding 
just claims of retribution for the past, and new assurances 
for the future. 

Among our Indian neighbors, also, a spirit of peace 
and friendship generally prevails ; and I am happy to 
inform you that the continued efforts to introduce among 
them the implements and the practice of husbandry and 
of the household arts, have not been without success ; 
that they are becoming more and more sensible of the 
superiority of this dependence for clothing and subsist- 
ence, over the precarious resources of hunting and fish- 



70 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

ing ; and already we are able to announce that, instead of 
that constant diminution of their numbers, produced by 
their wars and their wants, some of them begin to expe- 
rience an increase of population. 

To this state of general peace with which we have been 
blessed, one only exception exists. Tripoli, the least con- 
siderable of the Barbary states, had come forward with 
demands unfounded either in right or in compact, and had 
permitted itself to denounce war, on our failure to comply 
before a given day. The style of the demand admitted 
but one answer. I sent a small squadron of frigates into 
the Mediterranean, with assurances to that power of our 
sincere desire to remain in peace : but with orders to pro- 
tect our commerce against the threatened attack. The 
measure was seasonable and salutary. The Bey had 
already declared war. His cruisers were out. Two had 
arrived at Gibraltar. Our commerce in the Mediterranean 
was blockaded, and that of the Atlantic in peril. The ar- 
rival of our squadron dispelled the danger. One of the 
Tripolitan cruisers, having fallen in with and engaged the 
small schooner Enterprise, commanded by Lieut. Sterret,, 
which had gone as a tender to our larger vessels, was cap- 
tured, after a heavy slaughter of her men, without the loss 
of a single one on our part. The bravery exhibited by 
our citizens on that element will, I trust, be a testimony 
to the world that it is not the want of that virtue which 
makes us seek their peace, but a conscientious desire to 
direct the energies of our nation to the multiplication of 
the human race, and not to its destruction. Unauthorized 
by the constitution, without the sanction of Congress, to 
go beyond the line of defence, the vessel, being disabled 
from committing further hostilities, was liberated with its 
crew. The legislature will doubtless consider whether, by 
authorizing measures of offence also, they will place our 
force on an equal footing with that of its adversaries. I 
communicate all material information on this subject, that, 
in the exercise of this important function confided by the 
constitution to the legislature exclusively, their judgment 
may form itself on a knowledge and consideration of every 
circumstance of weight. 

I wish I could say that our situation with all the other 



JEFFERSON S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 71 

Barbary states was entirely satisfactory. Discovering that 
some delays had taken place in the performance of certain 
articles stipulated by us, I thought it my duty, by immedi- 
ate measures for fulfilling them, to vindicate to ourselves 
the right of considering the effect of departure from stipu- 
lation on their side. From the papers which will be laid 
before you, you will be enabled to judge whether our 
treaties are regarded by them as fixing at all the measure 
of their demands, or as guarding from the exercise of force 
our vessels within their power ; and to consider how far it 
will be safe and expedient to leave our affairs with them in 
their present posture. 

I lay before you the result of the census lately taken of 
our inhabitants, to a conformity with which we are now to 
reduce the ensuing ratio of representation and taxation. 
You will perceive that the increase of numbers, during the 
last ten years, proceeding in geometrical ratio, promises 
a duplication in little more than twenty-two years. We 
contemplate this rapid growth, and the prospect it holds up 
to us, not with a view to the injuries it may enable us to 
do to others in some future day, but to the settlement of 
the extensive country still remaining vacant within our 
limits, to the multiplication of men susceptible of happi- 
ness, educated in the love of order, habituated to self- 
government, and valuing its blessings above all price. 

Other circumstances, combined with the increase of 
numbers, have produced an augmentation of revenue 
arising from consumption, in a ratio far beyond that of 
population alone; and, though the changes of foreign 
relations now taking place, so desirable for the world, may 
for a season affect this branch of revenue, yet, weighing 
all probabilities of expense, as well as of income, there is 
reasonable ground of confidence that we may now safely 
dispense with all the internal taxes — comprehending ex- 
cise, stamps, auctions, licenses, carriages, and refined 
sugars; to which the postage on newspapers may be 
added, to facilitate the progress of information ; and that 
the remaining sources of revenue will be sufficient to pro- 
vide for the support of government, to pay the interest of 
the public debts, and to discharge the principals within 
shorter periods than the laws of the general expectation 



72 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

had contemplated. War, indeed, and untoward events, 
may change this prospect of things, and call for expenses 
which the imposts could not meet, But sound principles 
will not justify our taxing the industry of our fellow- 
citizens to accumulate treasure for wars to happen we 
know not when, and which might not perhaps happen, 
but from the temptations offered by that treasure. 

These views, however, of reducing our burdens, are 
formed on the expectation that a sensible, and, at the same 
time, a salutary reduction may take place in our habitual 
expenditures. For this purpose, those of the civil govern- 
ment, the army, and navy, will need revisaL When we 
consider that this government is charged with the external 
and mutual relations only of these states ; that the states 
themselves have principal care of our persons, our prop- 
erty, and our reputation, constituting the great field of 
human concerns, we may well do-ubt whether our organiza- 
tion is not too complicated, too expensive; whether offices 
and officers have not been multiplied unnecessarily, and 
sometimes injuriously to the service they were meant to 
promote. I will cause to be laid before you an essay to- 
wards a statement of those who, under public employment 
of various kinds, draw money from the treasury, or from our 
citizens. Time has not permitted a perfect enumeration, 
the ramifications of office being too multiplied and remote 
to be completely traced in a first trial. Among those who 
are dependent on executive discretion, I have begun the 
reduction of what was deemed necessary. The expenses 
of diplomatic agency have been considerably diminished. 
The inspectors of internal revenue, who were found to ob- 
struct the accountability of the institution, have been dis- 
continued. Several agencies, created by executive author- 
ity, on salaries fixed by that also, have been suppressed, 
and should suggest the expediency of regulating that power 
by law, so as to subject its exercises to legislative inspec- 
tion and sanction. Other reformations of the same kind 
will be pursued with that caution which is requisite, in 
removing useless things, not to injure what is retained. 
But the great mass of public offices is established by law, 
and therefore by law alone can be abolished. Should the 
legislature think it expedient to pass this roll in review, 



Jefferson's first annual message. 73 

and try all its parts by the test of public utility, they may 
be assured of every aid and light which executive informa- 
tion can yield. Considering the general tendency to mul- 
tiply offices and dependencies, and to increase expense to 
the ultimate term of burden which the citizen can bear, it 
behoves us to avail ourselves of every occasion which 
presents itself for taking off the surcharge ; that it never 
may be seen here that, after leaving to labor the smallest 
portion of its earnings on which it can subsist, govern- 
ment shall itself consume the whole residue of what it 
was instituted to guard. 

In our care, too, of the public contributions intrusted 
to our direction, it would be prudent to multiply barriers 
against their dissipation, by appropriating specific sums to 
every specific purpose susceptible of definition ; by dis- 
allowing all applications of money varying from the appro- 
priation in object, or transcending it in amount ; by re- 
ducing the undefined field of contingencies, and thereby 
circumscribing discretionary powers over money; and by 
bringing back to a single department all accountabilities 
for money, where the examinations may be prompt, effi- 
cacious, and uniform. 

An account of the receipts and expenditures of the last 
year, as prepared by the Secretary of the Treasury, will, 
as usual, be laid before you. The success which has at- 
tended the late sales of the public lands shows that, with 
attention, they may be made an important source of re- 
ceipt. Among the payments, those made in discharge of 
the principal and interest of the national debt, will show 
that the public faith has been exactly maintained. To 
these will be added an estimate of appropriations neces- 
sary for the ensuing year. This last will, of course, be 
effected by such modifications of the system of expense 
as you shall think proper to adopt. 

A statement has been formed by the Secretary of War, 
on mature consideration, of all the posts and stations 
where garrisons will be expedient, and of the number of 
men requisite for each garrison. The whole amount is 
considerably short of the present military establishment. 
For the surplus, no particular use can be pointed out. 
For defence against invasion, their number is as nothing ; 
7 



74 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

nor is it conceived needful or safe that a standing army 
should be kept up in time of peace for that purpose. Un- 
certain as we must ever be of the particular point in our 
circumference where an enemy may choose to invade us, 
the only force which can be ready at every point, and 
competent to oppose them, is the body of neighboring 
citizens, as formed into a militia. On these, collected 
from the parts most convenient, in numbers proportioned 
to the invading foe, it is best to rely, not only to meet the 
first attack, but, if it threatens to be permanent, to main- 
tain the defence until regulars may be engaged to relieve 
them. These considerations render it important that we 
should, at every session, continue to amend the defects 
which from time to time show themselves in the laws for 
regulating the militia, until they are sufficiently perfect; 
nor should we now, or at any time, separate until we can 
say we have done every thing for the militia which we 
could do were an enemy at our door. 

The provision of military stores on hand will be laid be- 
fore you, that you may judge of the additions still requisite. 

With respect to the extent to which our naval prepara- 
tions should be carried, some difference of opinion may 
be expected to appear ; but just attention to the circum- 
stances of every part of the Union will doubtless reconcile 
all. A small force will probably continue to be wanted 
for actual service in the Mediterranean. Whatever annual 
sum beyond that you may think proper to appropriate for 
naval preparations, would perhaps be better employed in 
providing those articles which may be kept without waste 
or consumption, and be in readiness when any exigency 
calls them into use. Progress has been made, as will ap- 
pear by papers now communicated, in providing materials 
for seventy-four gun ships, as directed by law. 

How far the authority given by the legislature for pro- 
curing and establishing sites for naval purposes has been 
perfectly understood and pursued in the execution, admits 
of some doubt. A statement of the expenses already in- 
curred on that subject is now laid before you. I have, in 
certain cases, suspended or slackened these expenditures, 
that the legislature might determine whether so many 
yards are necessary as have been contemplated. The 



Jefferson's first annual message*. 75 

works at this place are among those permitted to go on ; 
and five of the seven frigates directed to be laid up, have 
been brought and laid up here, where, besides the safety 
of their position, they are under the eye of the executive 
administration, as well as of its agents, and where your- 
selves also will be guided by your own view in the legis- 
lative provisions respecting them which may from time to 
time be necessary. They are preserved in such condition, 
as well the vessels as whatever belongs to them, as to 
be at all times ready for sea on a short warning. Two 
others are yet to be laid up so soon as they shall have 
received the repairs requisite to put them also into sound 
condition. As a superintending officer will be necessary 
at each yard, his duties and emoluments, hitherto fixed 
by the executive, will be a more proper subject for legis- 
lation. A communication will also be made of our prog- 
ress in the execution of the law respecting the vessels 
directed to be sold. 

The fortifications of our harbors, more or less advanced, 
present considerations of great difficulty. While some of 
them are on a scale sufficiently proportioned to the ad- 
vantages of their position, to the efficacy of their protec- 
tion, and the importance of the points within it, others are 
so extensive, will cost so much in their first erection, so 
much in their maintenance, and require such a force 
to garrison them, as to make it questionable what is best 
now to be done. A statement of those commenced or 
projected, of the expenses already incurred, and estimates 
of their future cost, so far as can be foreseen, shall be 
laid before you, that you may be enabled to judge 
whether any alteration is necessary in the laws respect- 
ing this subject. 

Agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and navigation, 
the four pillars of our prosperity, are then most thriving 
when left most free to individual enterprise. Protection 
from casual embarrassments, however, may sometimes be 
seasonably interposed. If, in the course of your observa- 
tions or inquiries, they should appear to need any aid 
within the limits of our constitutional powers, your sense 
of their importance is a sufficient assurance they will 
occupy your attention. We cannot, indeed, but all feel an 



76 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

anxious solicitude for the difficulties under which our 
carrying trade will soon be placed. How far it can be 
relieved, otherwise than by time, is a subject of important 
consideration. 

The judiciary system of the United States, and espe- 
cially that portion of it recently erected, will, of course, 
present itself to the contemplation of Congress ; and that 
they may be able to judge of the proportion which the 
institution bears to the business it has to perform, I have 
caused to be procured from the several states, and now 
lay before Congress, an exact statement of all the causes 
decided since the first establishment of the courts, and of 
those which were depending when additional courts and 
judges were brought in to their aid. 

And, while on the judiciary organization, it will be 
worthy your consideration, whether the protection of the 
inestimable institution of juries has been extended, to all 
the cases involving the security of our persons and prop- 
erty. Their impartial selection also being essential to 
their value, we ought further to consider whether that is 
sufficiently secured in those states where they are named 
by a marshal depending on executive will, or designated 
by the court, or by officers dependent on them. 

I cannot omit recommending a revisal of the laws on 
the subject of naturalization. Considering the ordinary 
chances of human life, a denial of citizenship under a 
residence of fourteen years, is a denial to a great propor- 
tion of those who ask it; and controls a policy pursued, 
from their first settlement, by many of these states, and 
still believed of consequence to their prosperity. And 
shall we refuse the unhappy fugitives from distress that 
hospitality which the savages of the wilderness extended 
to our fathers arriving in this land 1 Shall oppressed 
humanity find no asylum on this globe ? The constitu- 
tion, indeed, has wisely provided that, for admission to 
certain offices of important trust, a residence shall be re- 
quired sufficient to develop character and design. But 
might not the general character and capabilities of a citi- 
zen be safely communicated to every one manifesting a 
bona fide purpose of embarking his life and fortunes per- 
manently with us? with restrictions, perhaps, to guard 



77 

against fraudulent usurpations of our flag — an abuse 
which brings so much embarrassment and loss on the 
genuine citizen, and so much danger to the nation of be- 
ing involved in war, that no endeavor should be spared 
to detect and suppress it. 

These, fellow-citizens, are the matters respecting the 
state of the nation which I have thought of importance to 
be submitted to your consideration at this time. Some 
others, of less moment, or not yet ready for communica- 
tion, will be the subject of separate messages. I am 
happy in this opportunity of committing the arduous 
affairs of our government to the collected wisdom of the 
Union. Nothing shall be wanting on my part to inform, 
as far as in my power, the legislative judgment, nor to 
carry that judgment into faithful execution. The pru- 
dence and temperance of your discussions will promote, 
within your own walls, that conciliation which so much 
befriends rational conclusion ; and by its example will 
encourage among our constituents that progress of opin- 
ion which is tending to unite them in object and will. 
That all should be satisfied with any one order of things 
is not to be expected ; but I indulge the pleasing persua- 
sion, that the great body of our citizens will cordially 
concur in honest and disinterested efforts, which have for 
their object to preserve the general and state governments 
in their constitutional form and equilibrium ; to maintain 
peace abroad, and order and obedience to the laws at 
home ; to establish principles and practices of adminis- 
tration favorable to the security of liberty and property, 
and to reduce expenses to what is necessary for the use- 
ful purposes of government. 



MADISON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

March 4, 1809. 

Unwilling to depart from examples of the most revered 
authority, I avail myself of the occasion now presented, 
to express the profound impression made on me by the 

7* 



78 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

call of my country to the station, to the duties of which I 
am about to pledge myself by the most solemn of sanc- 
tions. So distinguished a mark of confidence, proceed- 
ing from the deliberate and tranquil suffrage of a free and 
virtuous nation, would, under any circumstances, have 
commanded my gratitude and devotion, as well as filled 
me with an awful sense of the trust to be assumed. Un- 
der the various circumstances which give peculiar solem- 
nity to the existing period, I feel that both the honor and the 
responsibility allotted to me are inexpressibly enhanced. 

The present situation of the world is indeed without a 
parallel ; and that of our own country full of difficulties. 
The pressure of these, too, is the more severely felt, be- 
cause they have fallen upon us at a moment when, the 
national prosperity being at a height not before attained, 
the contrast resulting from the change has been rendered 
the more striking. Under the benign influence of our 
republican institutions, and the maintenance of peace 
with all nations, whilst so many of them were engaged in 
bloody and wasteful wars, the fruits of a just policy were 
enjoyed in an unrivalled growth of our faculties and re- 
sources. Proofs of this were seen in the improvements 
of agriculture ; in the successful enterprises of commerce ; 
in the progress of manufactures and useful arts; in the 
increase of the public revenue, and the use made of it in 
reducing the public debt; and in the valuable works and 
establishments every where multiplying over the face of 
our land. 

It is a precious reflection that the transition from this 
prosperous condition of our country, to the scene which 
has for some time been distressing us, is not chargeable 
on any unwarrantable views, nor, as I trust, on any in- 
voluntary errors in the public councils. Indulging no 
passions which trespass on the rights or repose of other 
nations, it has been the true glory of the United States to 
cultivate peace by observing justice ; and to entitle them- 
selves to the respect of the nations at war, by fulfilling 
their neutral obligations with the most scrupulous impar- 
tiality. If there be candor in the world, the truth of these 
assertions will not be questioned ; posterity, at least, will 
do justice to them. 



ADDRESS. 79 

This unexceptionable course could not avail against 
the injustice and violence of the belligerent powers. In 
their rage against each other, or impelled by more direct 
motives, principles of retaliation have been introduced, 
equally contrary to universal reason and acknowledged 
law. How long their arbitrary edicts will be continued, 
in spite of the demonstrations that not even a pretext for 
them has been given by the United States, and of the fair 
and liberal attempt to induce a revocation of them, cannot 
be anticipated. Assuring myself that, under every vicis- 
situde, the determined spirit and united councils of the 
nation will be safeguards to its honor and its essential 
interests, I repair to the post assigned me with no other 
discouragement than what, springs from my own inade- 
quacy to its high duties. If I do not sink under the weight 
of this deep conviction, it is because I find some support in 
a consciousness of the purposes, and a confidence in the 
principles, which I bring with me into this arduous service. 

To cherish peace and friendly intercourse with all na- 
tions having correspondent dispositions ; to maintain sin- 
cere neutrality towards belligerent nations ; to prefer in all 
cases amicable discussion and reasonable accommodation 
of differences to a decision of them by an appeal to arms ; 
to exclude foreign intrigues and foreign partialities, so 
degrading to all countries, and so baneful to free ones ; to 
foster a spirit of independence, too just to invade the rights 
of others, too proud to surrender our own, too liberal to 
indulge unworthy prejudices ourselves, and too elevated 
not to look down upon them in others ; to hold the union 
of the states as the basis of their peace and happiness ; to 
support the constitution, which is the cement of the Union, 
as well in its limitations as in its authorities ; to respect 
the rights and authorities reserved to the states and to the 
people, as equally incorporated with, and essential to the 
success of, the general system ; to avoid the slightest in- 
terference with the rights of conscience, or the functions 
of religion, so wisely exempted from civil jurisdiction; to 
preserve, in their full energy, the other salutary provisions 
in behalf of private and personal rights, and of the free- 
dom of the press ; to observe economy in public expend- 
itures; to liberate the public resources by an honorable 



80 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

discharge of the public debts; to keep within the requisite 
limits a standing military force, always remembering that 
an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of 
republics — that, without standing armies, their liberty can 
never be in danger, nor with large ones safe ; to promote, 
by authorized means, improvements friendly to agricul- 
ture, to manufactures, and to external as well as internal 
commerce; to favor, in like manner, the advancement 
of science and the diffusion of information as the best 
aliment to true liberty ; to carry on the benevolent plans 
which have been so meritoriously applied to the conversion 
of our aboriginal neighbors from the degradation and 
wretchedness of savage life, to a participation of the im- 
provements of which the human mind and manners are 
susceptible in a civilized state ; — as far as sentiments and 
intentions such as these can aid the fulfilment of my duty, 
they will be a resource which cannot fail me. 

It is my good fortune, moreover, to have the path in 
which I am to tread, lighted by examples of illustrious 
services, successfully rendered in the most trying dif- 
ficulties, by those who have marched before me. Of those 
of my immediate predecessor it might least become me 
here to speak. I may, however, be pardoned for not sup- 
pressing the sympathy with which my heart is full, in the 
rich reward he enjoys in the benedictions of a beloved 
country, gratefully bestowed for exalted talents, zealously 
devoted, through a long career, to the advancement of its 
highest interest and happiness. 

But the source to which I look for the aids which alone 
can supply my deficiencies, is in the well-tried intelligence 
and virtue of my fellow-citizens, and in the counsels 
of those representing them in the other departments 
associated in the care of the national interests. In these 
my confidence will, under every difficulty, be placed, next 
to that which we have all been encouraged to feel in 
the guardianship and guidance of that Almighty Being 
whose power regulates the destiny of nations, whose 
blessings have been so conspicuously dispensed to this 
rising republic, and to whom we are bound to address our 
devout gratitude for the past, as well as our fervent sup- 
plications and best hopes for the future. 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 81 

MADISON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 

November 29, 1809. 

Fellow^Citizens of the Senate 

and House of Representatives : 

At the period of our last meeting, I had the satisfaction 
of communicating an adjustment with one of the principal 
belligerent nations, highly important in itself, and still 
more so, as presaging a more extended accommodation. 
It is with deep concern I am now to inform you, that the 
favorable prospect has been overclouded by a refusal of 
the British government to abide by the act of its minister 
plenipotentiary, and by its ensuing policy towards the 
United States, as seen through the communications of the 
minister sent to replace him. 

Whatever pleas may be urged for a disavowal of en- 
gagements formed by diplomatic functionaries, in cases 
where, by the terms of the engagements, a mutual ratifica- 
tion is reserved ; or where notice at the time may have 
been given of a departure from instructions ; or in ex- 
traordinary cases, essentially violating the principles of 
equity ; a disavowal could not have been apprehended in 
a case where no such notice or violation existed ; where 
no such ratification was reserved ; and, more especially, 
where, as is now in proof, an engagement, to be executed 
without any such ratification, was contemplated by the 
instructions given, and where it had, with good faith, been 
carried into immediate execution on the part of the United 
States. 

These considerations not having restrained the British 
government from disavowing the arrangement, by virtue 
of which its orders in council were to be revoked, and the 
event authorizing the renewal of commercial intercourse 
having thus not taken place, it necessarily became a 
question of equal urgency and importance, whether the 
act prohibiting that intercourse was not to be considered 
as remaining in legal force. This question being, after 
due deliberation, determined in the affirmative, a proclama- 
tion to that effect was issued. It could not but happen, 



82 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

however, that a return to this state of things, from that 
which had followed an execution of the arrangement 
by the United States, would involve difficulties. With a 
view to diminish these as much as possible, the instruc- 
tions from the Secretary of the Treasury, now laid before 
you, were transmitted to the collectors of the several ports. 
If, in permitting British vessels to depart without giving 
bonds not to proceed to their own ports, it should appear 
that the tenor of legal authority has not been strictly pur- 
sued, it is to be ascribed to the anxious desire which was 
felt that no individuals should be injured by so unforeseen 
an occurrence ; and I rely on the regard of Congress for the 
equitable interests of our own citizens, to adopt whatever 
further provisions may be found requisite for a general 
remission of penalties involuntarily incurred. 

The recall of the disavowed minister having been fol- 
lowed by the appointment of a successor, hopes were 
indulged that the new mission would contribute to alleviate 
the disappointment which had been produced, and to 
remove the causes which had so long embarrassed the good 
understanding of the two nations. It could not be doubted, 
that it would at least be charged with conciliatory ex- 
planations of the steps which had been taken, and with 
proposals to be substituted for the rejected arrangement. 
Reasonable and universal as this expectation was, it also 
has not been fulfilled. From the first official disclosures 
of the new minister, it was found that he had received no 
authority to enter into explanations relative to either branch 
of the arrangement disavowed, nor any authority to sub- 
stitute proposals, as to that branch which concerned the 
British orders in council. And finally, that his proposals 
with respect to the other branch, the attack on the frigate 
Chesapeake, were founded on a presumption, repeatedly 
declared to be inadmissible by the United States, that the 
first step towards adjustment was due from them ; the 
proposals, at the same time, omitting even a reference to 
the officer answerable for the murderous aggression, and 
asserting a claim not less contrary to the British laws and 
British practice, than to the principles and obligations of 
the United States. 

The correspondence between the Department of State 



83 

and this minister will show how unessentially the features 
presented in its commencement have been varied in its 
progress. It will show, also, that, forgetting the respect 
due to all governments, he did not refrain from imputations 
on this, which required that no further communications 
should be received from him. The necessity of this step 
will be made known to his Britannic majesty, through 
the minister plenipotentiary of the United States in Lon- 
don. And it would indicate a want of the confidence due 
to a government which so well understands and exacts 
what becomes foreign ministers near it, not to infer that 
the misconduct of its own representative will be viewed 
in the same light in which it has been regarded here. 
The British government will learn, at the same time, that 
a ready attention will be given to communications, through 
any channel which may be substituted. It will be happy, 
if the change in this respect should be accompanied by a 
favorable revision of the unfriendly policy which has been 
so long pursued towards the United States. 

With France, the other belligerent, whose trespasses 
on our commercial rights have long been the subject of 
our just remonstrances, the posture of our relations does 
not correspond with the measures taken on the part of the 
United States to effect a favorable change. The result 
of the several communications made to her government, 
in pursuance of the authorities vested by Congress in the 
executive, is contained in the correspondence of our min- 
ister at Paris now laid before you. 

By some of the other belligerents, although professing 
just and amicable dispositions, injuries materially affecting 
our commerce have not been duly controlled or repressed. 
In these cases, the interpositions deemed proper on our 
part have not been omitted. But it well deserves the con- 
sideration of the legislature, how far both the safety and 
honor of the American flag may be consulted, by ad- 
equate provision against that collusive prostitution of it by 
individuals, unworthy of the American name, which has 
so much favored the real or pretended suspicions, under 
which the honest commerce of their fellow-citizens has 
suffered. 

In relation to the powers on the coast of Barbary, noth- 



84 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

ing has occurred which is not of a nature rather to inspire 
confidence than distrust, as to the continuance of the 
existing amity. With our Indian neighbors, the just and 
benevolent system continued towards them, has also pre- 
served peace, and is more and more advancing habits 
favorable to their civilization and happiness. 

From a statement which will be made by the Secretary 
of War, it will be seen that the fortifications on our mar- 
itime frontier are in many of the ports completed, affording 
the defence which was contemplated ; and that a further 
time will be required to render complete the works in the 
harbor of New York, and in some other places. By the 
enlargement of the works, and the employment of a greater 
number of hands at the public armories, the supply of 
small arms, of an improving quality, appears to be an- 
nually increasing at a rate that, with those made on 
private contract, may be expected to go far towards provi- 
ding for the public exigency. 

The act of Congress providing for the equipment of 
our vessels of war having been fully carried into execution, 
I refer to the statement of the Secretary of the Navy 
for the information which may be proper on that subject. 
To that statement is added a view of the transfers of ap- 
propriations, authorized by the act of the session prece- 
ding the last, and of the grounds on which the transfers 
were made. 

Whatever may be the course of your deliberations on 
the subject of our military establishments, I should fail in 
my duty in not recommending to your serious attention 
the importance of giving to our militia, the great bulwark 
of our security and resource of our power, an organization 
the best adapted to eventual situations, for which the United 
States ought to be prepared. 

The sums which had been previously accumulated in 
the treasury, together with the receipts during the year 
ending on the 30th of September last, (and amounting to 
more than nine millions of dollars,) have enabled us to 
fulfil all our engagements, and to defray the current ex- 
penses of government, without recurring to any loan. But 
the insecurity of our commerce, and the consequent dimi- 
nution of the public revenue, will probably produce a de- 



madison's first annual message. 85 

ficiency in the receipts of the ensuing year, for which, and 
for other details, I refer to the statements which will be 
transmitted from the treasury. 

In the state which has been presented of our affairs 
with the great parties to a disastrous and protracted war, 
carried on in a mode equally injurious and unjust to the 
United States as a neutral nation, the wisdom of the 
national legislature will be again summoned to the im- 
portant decision on the alternatives before them. That 
these will be met in a spirit worthy the councils of a na- 
tion conscious both of its rectitude and of its rights, and 
careful as well of its honor as of its peace, I have an 
entire confidence. And that the result will be stamped 
by a unanimity becoming the occasion, and be supported 
by every portion of our citizens, with a patriotism en- 
lightened and invigorated by experience, ought as little 
to be doubted. 

In the midst of the wrongs and vexations experienced 
from external causes, there is much room for congratula- 
tion on the prosperity and happiness flowing from our 
situation at home. The blessing of health has never 
been more universal. The fruits of the seasons, though 
in particular articles and districts short of their usual 
redundancy, are more than sufficient for our wants and 
our comforts. The face of our country every where pre- 
sents the evidence of laudable enterprise, of extensive 
capital, and of durable improvement. In the cultivation 
of the materials, and the extension of useful manufactures, 
more especially in the general application to household 
fabrics, we behold a rapid diminution of our dependence 
on foreign supplies. Nor is it unworthy of reflection, 
that this revolution in our pursuits and habits is in no 
slight degree a consequence of those impolitic and arbi- 
trary edicts, by which the contending nations, in endeav- 
oring each of them to obstruct our trade with the other, 
have so far abridged our means of procuring the produc- 
tions and manufactures, of which our own are now taking 
the place. 

Recollecting always that, for every advantage which 
may contribute to distinguish our lot from that to which 
others are doomed by the unhappv spirit of the times, we 
8 



86 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



are indebted to that Divine Providence whose goodness 
has been so remarkably extended to this rising nation, it 
becomes us to cherish a devout gratitude, and to implore 
from the same Omnipotent Source a blessing on the con- 
sultations and measures about to be undertaken for the 
welfare of our beloved country. 



MONROE'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

March 5, 1817. 

I should be destitute of feeling if I was not deeply af- 
fected by the strong proof which my fellow-citizens have 
given me of their confidence, in calling me to the high 
office, whose functions I am about to assume. As the 
expression of their good opinion of my conduct in the 
public service, I derive from it a gratification, which those 
who are conscious of having done all that they could do 
to merit it, can alone feel. My sensibility is increased by 
a just estimate of the importance of the trust, and of the 
nature and extent of its duties ; with the proper discharge 
of which the highest interests of a great and free people 
are intimately connected. Conscious of my own de- 
ficiency, I cannot enter on these duties without great anxi- 
ety for the result. From a just responsibility I will never 
shrink ; calculating with confidence, that, in my best 
efforts to promote the public welfare, my motives will 
always be duly appreciated, and my conduct be viewed 
with that candor and indulgence which I have experi- 
enced in other stations. 

In commencing the duties of the chief executive office, 
it has been the practice of the distinguished men who 
have gone before me, to explain the principles which 
would govern them in their respective administrations. 
In following their venerated example, my attention is 
naturally drawn to the great causes which have contrib- 
uted, in a principal degree, to produce the present hnppy 
condition of the United States. They will best explain 



MONROE'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 87 

the nature of our duties, and shed much light on the pol- 
icy which ought to be pursued in future. 

From the commencement of our revolution to the pres- 
ent day, almost forty years have elapsed, and from the 
establishment of this constitution, twenty-eight. Through 
this whole term, the government has been what may em- 
phatically be called self-government : and what has been 
the effect 1 To whatever object we turn our attention, 
whether it relates to our foreign or domestic concerns, 
we find abundant cause to felicitate ourselves in the ex- 
cellence of our institutions. During a period fraught with 
difficulties, and marked by very extraordinary events, the 
United States have flourished beyond example. Their 
citizens, individually, have been happy, and the nation 
prosperous. 

Under this constitution, our commerce has been wisely 
regulated with foreign nations, and between the states; 
new states have been admitted into our Union ; our terri- 
tory has been enlarged by fair and honorable treaty, and 
with great advantage to the original states; the states 
respectively protected by the national government, under 
a mild paternal system, against foreign dangers, and en- 
joying within their separate spheres, by a wise partition 
of power, a just proportion of the sovereignty, have im- 
proved their police, extended their settlements, and at- 
tained a strength and maturity which are the best proofs 
of wholesome laws well administered. And if we look to 
the condition of individuals, what a proud spectacle does 
it exhibit ! On whom has oppression fallen in any quar- 
ter of our Union 1 Who has been deprived of any right 
of person or property 1 Who restrained from offering his 
vows in the mode which he prefers, to the Divine Author 
of his being ? It is well known that all these blessings 
have been enjoyed in their fullest extent; and I add, with 
peculiar satisfaction, that there has been no example of a 
capital punishment being inflicted on any one for the 
crime of high treason. 

Some, who might admit the competency of our govern- 
ment to those beneficent duties, might doubt it in trials 
which put to the test its strength and efficiency as a 
member of the great community of nations. Here, too, 



88 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

experience has afforded us the most satisfactory proof in 
its favor. Just as this constitution was put into action, 
several of the principal states of Europe had become 
much agitated, and some of them seriously convulsed. 
Destructive wars ensued, which have of late only been 
terminated. In the course of these conflicts, the United 
States received great injury from several of the parties. 
It was their interest to stand aloof from the contest, to 
demand justice from the party committing the injury, and 
to cultivate, by a fair and honorable conduct, the friend- 
ship of all. War became at length inevitable, and the 
result has shown that our government is equal to that, the 
greatest of trials, under the most unfavorable circum- 
stances. Of the virtue of the people, and of the heroic 
exploits of the army, the navy, and the militia, I need 
not speak. 

Such, then, is the happy government under which we 
live ; a government adequate to every purpose for which 
the social compact is formed ; a government elective in 
all its branches, under which every citizen may, by his 
merit, obtain the highest trust recognized by the constitu- 
tion ; which contains within it no cause of discord; none 
to put at variance one portion of the community with an- 
other ; a government which protects every citizen in the 
full enjoyment of his rights, and is able to protect the na- 
tion against injustice from foreign powers. 

Other considerations of the highest importance admon- 
ish us to cherish our union,, and to cling to the government 
which supports it. Fortunate as we are in our political 
institutions, we have not been less so in other circum- 
stances, on which our prosperity and happiness essentially 
depend. Situated within the temperate zone, and extend- 
ing through many degrees of latitude along the Atlantic, 
the United States enjoy all the varieties of climate, and 
every production incident to that portion of the globe. 
Penetrating, internally, to the great lakes and beyond the 
sources of the great rivers which communicate through 
our whole interior, no country was ever happier with 
respect to its domain. Blessed, too, with a fertile soil, our 
produce has always been very abundant, leaving, even in 
years the least favorable, a surplus for the wants of our 



MONROE } S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 89 

fellow-men in other countries. Such is our peculiar 
felicity, that there is not a part of our Union that is not 
particularly interested in preserving it. The great agri- 
cultural interest of our nation prospers under its protec- 
tion. Local interests are not less fostered by it. Our 
fellow-citizens of the north, engaged in navigation, find 
great encouragement in being made the favored carriers 
of the vast productions of the other portions of the United 
States, while the inhabitants of these are amply recom- 
pensed in their turn, by the nursery for seamen and naval 
force, thus formed and reared up for the support of our 
common rights. Our manufacturers find a generous en- 
couragement by the policy which patronizes domestic 
industry ; and the surplus of our produce, a steady and 
profitable market by local wants in less favored parts at 
home. 

Such, then, being the highly-favored condition of our 
country, it is the interest of every citizen to maintain it. 
What are the dangers which menace us? If any exist, 
they ought to be ascertained and guarded against. 

In explaining my sentiments on this subject, it may be 
asked, What raised us to the present happy state? How 
did we accomplish the revolution ? How remedy the de- 
fects of the first instrument of our Union, by infusing into 
the national government sufficient power for national pur- 
poses, without impairing the just rights of the states, or 
affecting those of individuals? How sustain and pass with 
glory through the late war 1 The government has been in 
the hands of the people. To the people, therefore, and to 
the faithful and able depositaries of their trust, is the credit 
due. Had the people of the United States been educated 
in different principles, — had they been less intelligent, less 
independent, or less virtuous, — can it be believed that we 
should have maintained the same steady and consistent 
career, or been blessed with the same success ? While, 
then, the constituent body retains its present sound and 
healthful state, every thing will be safe. They will choose 
competent and faithful representatives for every department. 
It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, 
when they degenerate into a populace, that they are inca- 
pable of exercising the sovereignty. Usurpation is then an 
8* 



90 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

easy attainment, and a usurper soon found. The people 
themselves become the willing instruments of their own 
debasement and ruin. Let us, then, look to the great cause, 
and endeavor to preserve it in full force. Let us, by all 
wise and constitutional measures, promote intelligence 
among the people, as the best means of preserving our 
liberties. 

Dangers from abroad are not less deserving of attention. 
Experiencing the fortune of other nations, the United 
States may again be involved in war, and it may in that 
event be the object of the adverse party to overset our gov- 
ernment, to break our union, and demolish us as a nation. 
Our distance from Europe, and the just, moderate, and 
pacific policy of our government, may form some security 
against these dangers, but they ought to be anticipated and 
guarded against. Many of our citizens are engaged in 
commerce and navigation, and all of them are in a certain 
degree dependent on their prosperous state. Many are 
engaged in the fisheries. These interests are exposed to 
invasion in the wars between other powers, and we should 
disregard the faithful admonitions of experience if we did 
not expect it. We must support our rights, or lose our 
character, and with it, perhaps, our liberties. A people 
who fail to do it, can scarcely be said to hold a place 
among independent nations. National honor is national 
property of the highest value. The sentiment in the mind 
of every citizen, is national strength. It ought therefore 
to be cherished. 

To secure us against these dangers, our coast and in- 
land frontiers should be fortified, our army and navy 
regulated upon just principles as to the force of each, be 
kept in perfect order, and our militia be placed on the best 
practicable footing. To put our extensive coast in such a 
state of defence as to secure our cities and interior from 
invasion, will be attended with expense ; but the work, when 
finished, will be permanent, and it is fair to presume that a 
single campaign of invasion, by a naval force, superior to 
our own, aided by a few thousand land troops, would 
expose us to a greater expense, without taking into the 
estimate the loss of property and distress of our citizens, 
than would be sufficient for this great work. Our land 



MONROES INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 91 

and naval forces should be moderate, but adequate to the 
necessary purposes. The former to garrison and preserve 
our fortifications, and to meet the first invasions of a foreign 
foe ; and while constituting the elements of a greater force, 
to preserve the science, as well as all the necessary imple- 
ments of war, in a state to be brought into activity in the 
event of war. The latter, retained within the limits proper 
in state of peace, might aid in maintaining the neutrality 
of the United States, with dignity, in the wars of other 
powers, and in saving the property of their citizens from 
spoliation. In time of war, with the enlargement of which 
the great naval resources of the country render it suscepti- 
ble, and which should be duly fostered in time of peace, it 
would contribute essentially, both as an auxiliary of defence 
and as a powerful engine of annoyance, to diminish the 
calamities of war, and to bring the war to a speedy and 
honorable termination. 

But it ought always to be held prominently in view, that 
the safety of these states, and of every thing dear to a free 
people, must depend in an eminent degree on the militia. 
Invasions may be made too formidable to be resisted by any 
land and naval force, which it would comport either with 
the principles of our government, or the circumstances of 
the United States, to maintain. In such cases, recourse 
must be had to the great body of the people, and in a man- 
ner to produce the best effect. It is of the highest impor- 
tance, therefore, that they be so organized and trained as 
to be prepared for any emergency. The arrangement 
should be such as to put at the command of the govern- 
ment the ardent patriotism and youthful vigor of the 
country. If formed on equal and just principles, it cannot 
be oppressive. It is the crisis which makes the pressure, 
and not the laws which provide a remedy for it. This 
arrangement should be formed, too, in time of peace, to be 
the better prepared for war. With such an organization 
of such a people, the United States have nothing to dread 
from foreign invasion. At its approach, an overwhelming 
force of gallant men might always be put in motion. 

Other interests of high importance will claim attention; 
among which the improvement of our country by roads 
and canals, proceeding always with a constitutional sane- 



92 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

tion, holds a distinguished place. By thus facilitating the 
intercourse between the states, we shall add much to the 
convenience and comfort of our fellow-citizens, much to the 
ornament of the country, and, what is of greater importance, 
we shall shorten distances, and by making each part more 
accessible to and dependent on the other, we shall bind 
the Union more closely together. Nature has done so 
much for us by intersecting the country with so many 
great rivers, bays, and lakes, approaching from distant 
points so near to each other, that the inducement to com- 
plete the work seems to be peculiarly strong. A more 
interesting spectacle was perhaps never seen than is ex- 
hibited within the limits of the United States — a territory 
so vast, and advantageously situated, containing objects so 
grand, so useful, so happily connected in all their parts. 

Our manufactures will, likewise, require the systematic 
and fostering care of the government. Possessing, as we 
do, all the raw materials, the fruit of our own soil and in- 
dustry, we ought not to depend, in the degree we have 
done, on supplies from other countries. While we are 
thus dependent, the sudden event of war, unsought and un- 
expected, cannot fail to plunge us into the most serious 
difficulties. It is important, too, that the capital which 
nourishes our manufactures should be domestic, as its 
influence in that case, instead of exhausting, as it may do 
in foreign hands, would be felt advantageously on agricul- 
ture, and every other branch of industry. Equally im- 
portant is it to provide at home a market for our raw 
materials, as, by extending the competition, it will enhance 
the price, and protect the cultivator against the casualties 
incident to foreign markets. 

With the Indian tribes it is our duty to cultivate friendly 
relations, and to act with kindness and liberality in all our 
transactions. Equally proper is it to persevere in our 
efforts to extend to them the advantages of civilization. 

The great amount of our revenue, and the flourishing 
state of the treasury, are a full proof of the competency of 
the national resources for any emergency, as they are Of 
the willingness of our fellow-citizens to bear the burdens 
which the public necessities require. The vast amount of 
vacant lands, the value of which daily augments, forms an 



Monroe's inaugural address. 93 

additional resource of great extent and duration. These 
resources, besides accomplishing every other necessary pur- 
pose, puts it completely in the power of the United States 
to discharge the national debt at an early period. Peace 
is the best time for improvement and preparations of every 
kind ; it is in peace that our commerce flourishes most, 
that taxes are most easily paid, and that the revenue is 
most productive. 

The executive is charged, officially, in the departments 
under it, with the disbursement of the public money, and 
is responsible for the faithful application of it to the pur- 
poses for which it is raised. The legislature is the watch- 
ful guardian over the public purse. It is its duty to see 
that the disbursement has been honestly made. To meet 
the requisite responsibility, every facility should be afford- 
ed to the executive, to enable it to bring the public agents 
intrusted with the public money, strictly and promptly to 
account. Nothing should be presumed against them; but 
if, with the requisite facilities, the public money is suffered 
to lie long and uselessly in their hands, they will not be the 
only defaulters, nor will the demoralizing effect be confined 
to them. It will evince a relaxation and want of tone in the 
administration, which will be felt by the whole community. 
I shall do all that I can to secure economy and fidelity in 
this important branch of the administration, and I doubt 
not that the legislature will perform its duty with equal 
zeal. A thorough examination should be regularly made, 
and I will promote it. 

It is particularly gratifying to me to enter on the dis- 
charge of these duties at a time when the United States 
are blessed with peace. It is a state most consistent with 
their prosperity and happiness. It will be my sincere de- 
sire to preserve it, so far as depends on the executive, on 
just principles with all nations, claiming nothing unreason- 
able of any, and rendering to each what is its due. 

Equally gratifying is it to witness the increased harmony 
of opinion which pervades our Union. Discord does not 
belong to our system. Union is recommended, as well by 
the free and benign principles of our government, extend- 
ing its blessings to every individual, as by the other 
eminent advantages attending it. The American people 



94 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN". 

have encountered together great dangers, and sustained 
severe trials, with success. They constitute one great 
family, with a common interest. Experience has enlight- 
ened us on some questions of essential importance to the 
country. The progress has been slow, dictated by a just 
reflection, and a faithful regard to every interest connected 
with it. To promote this harmony, in accordance with 
the principles of our republican government, and in a 
manner to give the most complete effect, and to advance, 
in all other respects, the best interests of our country, will 
be the object of my constant and zealous exertions. 

Never did a government commence under auspices so 
favorable, nor ever was success so complete. If we look 
to the history of other nations, ancient or modern, we find 
no example of a growth so rapid, so gigantic ; of a people 
so prosperous and happy. In contemplating what we have 
still to perform, the heart of every citizen must expand 
with joy, when he reflects how near our government has 
approached to perfection ; that in respect to it we have no 
essential improvement to make ; that the great object is to 
preserve it in the essential principles and features which 
characterize it, and that that is to be done by preserving 
the virtue and enlightening the minds of the people ; and, 
as a security against foreign dangers, to adopt such ar- 
rangements as are indispensable to the support of our 
independence, our rights and liberties. If we persevere 
in the career in which we have advanced so far, and in 
the path already traced, we cannot fail, under the favor of 
a gracious Providence, to attain the high destiny which 
seems to await us. 

In the administration of the illustrious men who have 
preceded me in this high station, with some of whom I 
have been connected by the closest ties from early life, 
examples are presented which will always be found highly 
instructive and useful to their successors. From these I 
shall endeavor to derive all the advantages which they may 
afford. Of my immediate predecessor, under whom so 
important a portion of this great and successful experiment 
has been made, I shall be pardoned for expressing my 
earnest wishes that he may long enjoy in his retirement 
the affections of a grateful country, the best reward 



monroe's first annual message. 95 

of exalted talents and the most faithful and meritorious 
services. Relying on the aid to be derived from the other 
departments of government, I enter on the trust to which I 
have been called by the suffrages of my fellow-citizens, 
with my fervent prayers to the Almighty that he will be 
graciously pleased to continue to us that protection which 
he has already so conspicuously displayed in our favor. 



MONROE'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 

December 3, 1817. 

Felloic-Citizcns of the Senate 

and House of Representatives : 

At no period of our political existence had we so much 
cause to felicitate ourselves at the prosperous and happy 
condition of our country. The abundant fruits of the 
earth have filled it with plenty. An extensive and profit- 
able commerce has greatly augmented our revenue. The 
public credit has attained an extraordinary elevation. Our 
preparations for defence, in case of future wars, from 
which, by the experience of all nations, we ought not to ex- 
pect to be exempted, are advancing, under a well-digested 
system, with all the despatch which so important a work 
will admit. Our free government, founded on the interests 
and affections of the people, has gained, and is daily gain- 
ing strength. Local jealousies are rapidly yielding to 
more generous, enlarged, and enlightened views of national 
policy. For advantages so numerous and highly important, 
it is our duty to unite in grateful acknowledgments to that 
Omnipotent Being, from whom they are derived, and in 
unceasing prayer that he will endow us with virtue and 
strength to maintain and hand them down, in their utmost 
purity, to our latest posterity. 

I have the satisfaction to inform you, that an arrange- 
ment, which had been commenced by my predecessor, 
with the British government, for the reduction of the naval 
force, by Great Britain and the United States, on the lakes, 



96 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

has been concluded ; by which it is provided, that neither 
party shall keep in service on Lake Champlain more than 
one v ?ssel ; on Lake Ontario, more than one ; on Lake Erie 
and he upper lakes, more than two ; to be armed, each 
with one cannon only, and that all the other armed vessels 
of bo h parties, of which an exact list is interchanged, shall 
be dismantled. It is also agreed, that the force retained 
shall be restricted in its duty to the internal purposes of 
each party ; and that the arrangement shall remain in force 
until six months shall have expired after notice having been 
given by one of the parties to the other of its desire that it 
should terminate. By this arrangement, useless expense 
on both sides, and, what is of greater importance, the 
danger of collision between armed vessels in those inland 
waters, which was great, is prevented. 

I have the satisfaction also to state, that the commission- 
ers under the fourth article of the treaty of Ghent, to whom 
it was referred to decide to which party the several islands 
in tha Bay of Passamaquoddy belonged, under the treaty of 
one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, have agreed 
in a report, by which all the islands in the possession of 
each party before the late war have been decreed to it. 
The commissioners acting under the other articles of the 
treaty of Ghent, for the settlement of the boundaries, have 
also been engaged in the discharge of their respective 
duties, but have not yet completed them. The difference 
which arose between the two governments, under the 
treaty, respecting the right of the United States to take 
and cure fish on the coast of the British provinces, north 
of our limits, which had been secured by the treaty of one 
thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, is still in negoti- 
ation. The proposition made by this government, to ex- 
tend to the colonies of Great Britain the principle of the 
convention of London, by which the commerce between 
the ports of the United States and British ports of Europe 
had been placed on a footing of equality, has been declined 
by the British government. This subject having been thus 
amicably discussed between the two governments, and it 
appearing that the British government is unwilling to de- 
part from its present regulations, it remains for Congress 
to decide whether they will make any other regulations in 



97 

consequence thereof, for the protection and improvement 
of our navigation. 

The negotiation with Spain, for spoliations on our com- 
merce, and the settlement of boundaries, remains essen- 
tially in the state it held in the communications that were 
made to Congress by my predecessor. It has been evident- 
ly the policy of the Spanish government to keep the 
negotiation suspended, and in this the United States have 
acquiesced, from an amicable disposition towards Spain, 
and in the expectation that her government would, from 
a sense of justice, finally accede to such an arrangement 
as would be equal between the parties. A disposition has 
been lately shown by the Spanish government to move in 
the negotiation, which has been met by this government; 
and should the conciliatory and friendly policy which has 
invariably guided our councils be reciprocated, a just and 
satisfactory arrangement may be expected. It is proper, 
however, to remark that no proposition has yet been made 
from which such a result can be presumed. 

It was anticipated, at an early stage, that the contest 
between Spain and the colonies would become highly 
interesting to the United States. It was natural that our 
citizens should sympathize in events which affected their 
neighbors. It seemed probable, also, that the prosecution 
of the conflict, along our coast, and in contiguous coun- 
tries, would occasionally interrupt our commerce, and 
otherwise affect the persons and property of our citizens. 
These anticipations have been realized. Such injuries 
have been received from persons ac-ting under the authority 
of both the parties, and for which redress has, in some 
instances, been withheld. Through every stage of the 
conflict, the United States have maintained an impartial 
neutrality, giving aid to neither of the parties in men, 
money, ships, or munitions of war. They have regarded 
the contest not in the light of an ordinary insurrection or 
rebellion, but as a civil war between parties nearly equal, 
having, as to neutral powers, equal rights. Our ports 
have been open to both, and every article the fruit of our 
soil, or of the industry of our citizens, which either was 
permitted to take, has been equally free to the other. 
Should the colonies establish their independence, it is 
9 



98 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

proper now to state that this government neither seeks nor 
would accept from them any advantage in commerce or 
otherwise, which will not be equally open to all other 
nations. The colonies will, in that event, become inde- 
pendent states, free from any obligation to, or connection 
with us, which it may not then be their interest to form on 
a basis of fair reciprocity. 

In the summer of the present year, an expedition was 
set on foot against East Florida, by persons claiming to 
act under the authority of some of the colonies, who took 
possession of Amelia Island, at the mouth of St. Mary's 
River, near the boundary of the state of Georgia. As the 
province lies eastward of the Mississippi, and is bounded 
by the United States and the ocean on every side, and 
has been a subject of negotiation with the government of 
Spain, as an indemnity for losses by spoliation, or in 
exchange of territory of equal value, westward of the 
Mississippi, — a fact well known to the world, — it excited 
surprise that any countenance should be given to this 
measure by any of the colonies. As it would be difficult 
to reconcile it with the friendly relations existing between 
the United States and the colonies, a doubt was entertained 
whether it had been authorized by them, or any of them. 
This doubt has gained strength, by the circumstances 
which have unfolded themselves in the prosecution of the 
enterprise, which have marked it as a mere private, un- 
authorized adventure. Projected and commenced with an 
incompetent force, reliance seems to have been placed on 
what might be drawn, in defiance of our laws, from within 
our limits ; and of late, as their resources have failed, it 
has assumed a more marked character of unfriendliness to 
us, the island being made a channel for the illicit intro- 
duction of slaves from Africa into the United States, an 
asylum for fugitive slaves from the neighboring states, and a 
port for smuggling of every kind. 

A similar establishment was made, at an earlier period, 
by persons of the same description, in the Gulf of Mexico, 
at a place called Galveston, within the limits of the United 
States, as we contend, under the cession of Louisiana. 
This enterprise has been marked in a more signal manner 
by all the objectionable circumstances which characterized 



monroe ; s first annual message. 99 

the other, and more particularly by the equipment of 
privateers which have annoyed our commerce, and by 
smuggling. These establishments, if ever sanctioned by 
any authority whatever, which is not believed, have abused 
their trust and forfeited all claim to consideration. A just 
regard for the rights and interests of the United States 
required that they should be suppressed, and orders have 
accordingly been issued to that effect. The imperious 
considerations which produced this measure will be ex- 
plained to the parties whom it may in any degree concern. 

To obtain correct information on every subject in which 
the United States are interested ; to inspire just sentiments 
in all persons in authority, on either side, of our friendly 
disposition, so far as it may comport with an impartial 
neutrality, and to secure proper respect to our commerce 
in every port, and from every flag, it has been thought 
proper to send a ship of war, with three distinguished 
citizens, along the southern coast, with instructions to 
touch at such ports as they may find most expedient for 
these purposes. With the existing authorities, v/?th these 
in the possession of, and exercising the sovereignty, must 
the communication be held ; from them alone can redress 
for past injuries, committed by persons acting under them, 
be obtained ; by them alone can the commission of the like 
in future be prevented. 

Our relations with the other powers of Europe have 
experienced no essential change since the last session. In 
our intercourse with each, due attention continues to be 
paid to the protection of our commerce, and to every other 
object in which the United States are interested. A strong 
hope is entertained, that, by adhering to the maxims of a 
just, candid, and friendly policy, we may long preserve 
amicable relations with all the powers of Europe, on con- 
ditions advantageous and honorable to our country. 

With the Barbary states and the Indian tribes, our 
pacific relations have been preserved. 

In calling your attention to the internal concerns of 
our country, the view which they exhibit is peculiarly 
gratifying. The payments which have been made into 
the treasury show the very productive state of the public 
revenue, After satisfying the appropriations made by law 



100 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

for the support of the civil government and of the military 
and naval establishments, embracing suitable provision for 
fortification and for the gradual increase of the navy, pay- 
ing the interest of the public debt, and extinguishing more 
than eighteen millions of the principal, within the present 
year, it is estimated that a balance of more than six mil- 
lions of dollars will remain in the treasury on the first day 
of January, applicable to the current service of the en- 
suing year. 

The payments into the treasury during the year one 
thousand eight hundred and seventeen, on account of 
imports and tonnage, resulting principally from duties 
which have accrued in the present year, may be fairly 
estimated at twenty millions of dollars; internal revenues, 
at two millions five hundred thousand; public lands, at one 
million five hundred thousand ; bank dividends and inci- 
dental receipts, at five hundred thousand ; making, in the 
whole, twenty-four millions and five hundred thousand 
dollars. 

The annual permanent expenditure for the support of 
the civil government, and of the army and navy, as now 
established by law, amounts to eleven millions eight hun- 
dred thousand dollars ; and for the sinking fund, to ten 
millions; making, in the whole, twenty-one millions eight 
hundred thousand dollars; leaving an annual excess of 
revenue, beyond the expenditure, of two millions seven 
hundred thousand dollars, exclusive of the balance esti- 
mated to be in the treasury on the 1st day of January, 
one thousand eight hundred and eighteen. 

In the present state of the treasury, the whole of the 
Louisiana debt may be redeemed in the year 1819 ; after 
which, if the public debt continues as it now is, above par, 
there will be annually about five millions of the sinking 
fund unexpended, until the year 1825, when the loan of 
1812, and the stock created by funding treasury notes, will 
be redeemable. 

It is also estimated that the Mississippi stock will be 
discharged during the year 1819, from the proceeds of the 
public lands assigned to that object; after which the receipts 
from those lands will annually add to the public revenue 
the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars, mak- 



MONROE'" S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. i(ji 

ing the permanent annual revenue amount to twenty-six 
millions of dollars, and leaving an annual excess of revenue 
after the year 1819, beyond the permanent authorized 
expenditure, of more than four millions of dollars. 

By tne last returns to the department of war, the militia 
force of the several states may be estimated at eight hun- 
dred thousand men, infantry, artiilery, and cavalry. Great 
part of this force is armed, and measures are taken to arm 
the whole. An improvement in the organization and dis- 
cipline of the militia, is one of the great objects which 
claim the unremitted attention of Congress. 

The regular force amounts' nearly to the number re- 
quired by law, and is stationed along the Atlantic and 
inland frontiers. 

Of the naval force, it has been necessary to maintain 
strong squadrons in the Mediterranean and in the Gulf 
of Mexico. 

From several of the Indian tribes, inhabiting the coun- 
try bordering on Lake Eiie, purchases have been made 
of lands, on conditions very favorable to the United States, 
and, it is presumed, not less so to the tribes themselves. 
By these purchases, the Indian title, with moderate reser- 
vations, has been extinguished to the whole of the land 
within the state of Ohio, and to a great part of that in 
Michigan territory, and of the state of Indiana. From 
the Cherokee tribe a tract has been purchased in the 
state of Georgia, and an arrangement made, by which, in 
exchange for lands beyond the Mississippi, a great part, if 
not the whole of the land belonging to the tribe, eastward 
of that river, in the states of North Carolina, Georgia, 
and Tennessee, and in the Alabama territory, will soon be 
acquired. By these acquisitions, and others that may 
reasonably be expected soon to follow, we shall be enabled 
to extend our settlements from the inhabited parts of the 
state of Ohio, along Lake Erie, into the Michigan territory, 
and to connect our settlements by degrees, through the 
state of Indiana and the Illinois territory, to that of Mis- 
souri. A similar and equally advantageous effect will soon 
be produced to the south, through the whole extent of the 
states and territory which border on the waters emptying 
into the Mississippi and the Mobile. In this progress, 
9* 



102 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

which the rights of nature demand, and nothing can pre- 
vent, marking a growth rapid and gigantic, it is our duty 
to make new efforts for the preservation, improvement, and 
civilization of the native inhabitants. The hunter state 
can exist only in the vast, uncultivated desert. It yields to 
the more dense and compact form and greater force of 
civilized population; and of right it ought to yield, for the 
earth was given to mankind to support the greatest num- 
ber of which it is capable, and no tribe or people have a 
right to withhold from the wants of others more than is 
necessary for their own support and comfort. It is grat- 
ifying to know that the reservations of land made by the 
treaties with the tribes on Lake Erie, were made with a 
view to individual ownership among them, and to the cul- 
tivation of the soil by all, and that an annual stipend has 
been pledged to supply their other wants. It will merit 
the consideration of Congress, whether other provisions, 
not stipulated by the treaty, ought to be made for these 
tribes, and for the advancement of the liberal and humane 
policy of the United States towards all the tribes within 
our limits, and more particularly for their improvement in 
the arts of civilized life. 

Among the advantages incident to these purchases, and 
to those which have preceded, the security which may 
thereby be afforded to our inland frontier is peculiarly 
important. With a strong barrier, consisting of our own 
people thus planted on the lakes, the Mississippi, and the 
Mobile, with the protection to be derived from the regular 
force, Indian hostilities, if they do not altogether cease, 
will henceforth lose their terror. Fortifications in those 
quarters to any extent will not be necessary, and the ex- 
pense attending them may be saved. A people accustomed 
to the use of fire-arms only, as the Indian tribes are, will 
shun even moderate works which are defended by cannon. 
Great fortifications will therefore be requisite only in future 
along the coast, and at some points in the interior con- 
nected with it. On these will the safety of towns and the 
commerce of our rivers, from the Bay of Fundy to the 
Mississippi, depend. On these, therefore, should the ut- 
most attention, skill, and labor be bestowed. 

A considerable and rapid augmentation in the value of 



Monroe's first annual message. 103 

all the public lands, proceeding from these and other ob- 
vious causes, may henceforward be expected. The dif- 
ficulties attending early emigrations will be dissipated even 
in the most remote parts. Several new states have been 
admitted into our Union to the west and south, and territo- 
rial governments, happily organized, established over every 
other portion in which there is vacant land for sale. In 
terminating Indian hostilities, as must soon be done, in a 
formidable shape at least, the emigration, which has here- 
tofore been great, will probably increase, and the demand for 
land, and the augmentation in its value, be in like propor- 
tion. The great increase of our population throughout the 
Union will alone produce an important effect, and in no 
quarter will it be so sensibly felt as those in contemplation. 
The public lands are a public stock, which ought to be 
disposed of to the best advantage for the nation. The na- 
tion should, therefore, derive the profit proceeding from the 
continual rise in their value. Every encouragement should 
be given to the emigrants, consistent with a fair competi- 
tion between them ; but that competition should operate in 
the first sale to the advantage of the nation rather than of 
individuals. Great capitalists will derive all the benefit in- 
cident to their superior wealth, under any mode of sale 
which may be adopted. But if, looking forward to the 
rise in the value of the public lands, they should have the 
opportunity of amassing, at a low price, vast bodies in 
their hands, the profit will accrue to them, and not to the 
public. They would also have the power, in that degree, 
to control the emigration and settlement in such a manner 
as their opinion of their respective interests might dictate. 
I submit the subject to the consideration of Congress, that 
such further provision may be made of the sale of the pub- 
lic lands, with a view to the public interest, should any be 
deemed expedient, as in their judgment may be best 
adapted to the object. 

When we consider the vast extent of territory within 
the United States, the great amount and value of its pro- 
ductions, the connection of its parts, and other circum- 
stances on which their prosperity and happiness depend, 
we cannot fail to entertain a high sense of the advantage 
to be derived from the facility which may be afforded in 



104 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

the intercourse between them, by means of good roads and 
canals. Never did a country of such vast extent offer 
equal inducements to improvements of this kind, nor ever 
were consequences of such magnitude involved in them. 
As this subject was acted on by Congress at the last ses- 
sion, and there may be a disposition to revive it at present, 
I have brought it into view for the purpose of communica- 
ting my sentiments on a very important circumstance con- 
nected with it, with that freedom and candor which a regard 
for the public interest and a proper respect for Congress 
require. A difference of opinion has existed from the first 
formation of our constitution to the present time, among 
our most enlightened and virtuous citizens, respecting the 
right of Congress to establish such a system of improve- 
ment. Taking into view the trust with which I am now 
honored, it would be improper, after what has passed, that 
this discussion should be revived with an uncertainty of 
my opinion respecting the right. Disregarding early im- 
pressions, I have bestowed on the subject all the deliber- 
ation which its great importance, and a just sense of my 
duty, required, and the result is a settled conviction in my 
mind that Congress do not possess the right. It is not 
contained in any of the specified powers granted to Con- 
gress, nor can I consider it incidental to, or a necessary 
mean, viewed on the most liberal scale, for carrying into 
effect any of the powers which are specifically granted. In 
communicating this result, I cannot resist the obligation 
which I feel, to suggest to Congress the propriety of rec- 
ommending to the states an adoption of an amendment to 
the constitution, which shall give Congress the right in 
question. In cases of doubtful construction, especially of 
such vital interest, it comports with the nature and origin 
of our republican institutions, and will contribute much to 
preserve them, to apply to our constituents for an explicit 
grant of the power. We may confidently rely, that if it 
appears to their satisfaction that the power is necessary, it 
will be granted. 

In this case, I am happy to observe, that experience has 
afforded the most ample proof of its utility, and that the 
benign spirit of conciliation and harmony, which now 
manifests itself throughout our Union, promises to such a 



105 

recommendation the most prompt and favorable result. I 
think proper to suggest, also, in case this measure is 
adopted, that it be recommended to the states to include in 
the amendment sought, a right in Congress to institute, 
likewise, seminaries of learning, for the all-important pur- 
pose of diffusing knowledge among our fellow-citizens 
throughout the United States. 

Our manufactures will require the continued attention 
of Congress. The capital employed in them is consider- 
able, and the knowledge required in the machinery and 
fabric of all the most useful manufactures is of great value. 
Their preservation, which depends on due encouragement, 
is connected with the high interests of the nation. 

Although the progress of the public buildings has been 
as favorable as circumstances have permitted, it is to be 
regretted the capitol is not yet in a state to receive you. 
There is good cause to presume that the two wings, the 
only parts as yet commenced, will be prepared for that 
purpose the next session. The time seems now to have 
arrived, when this subject may be deemed worthy of the 
attention of Congress, on a scale adequate to national pur- 
poses. The completion of the middle building will be 
necessary to the convenient accommodation of Congress, 
of the committees, and various officers belonging to it. It 
is evident that the other public buildings are altogether in- 
sufficient for the accommodation of the several executive 
departments ; some of whom are much crowded, and even 
subject to the necessity of obtaining it in private buildings, 
at some distance from the head of the department, and 
with inconvenience to the management of the public 
business. Most nations have taken an interest and a pride 
in the improvement and ornament of their metropolis, and 
none were more conspicuous in that respect than the an- 
cient republics. The policy which dictated the establish- 
ment of a permanent residence for the national govern- 
ment, and the spirit in which it was commenced and has 
been prosecuted, show that such improvement was thought 
worthy the attention of this nation. Its central position, 
between the northern and southern extremes of our Union, 
and its approach to the west, at the head of a great navi- 



106 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

gable river, which interlocks with the western waters, prove 
the wisdom of the councils which established it. 

Nothing appears to be more reasonable and proper, 
than that convenient accommodation should be provided, 
on a well-digested plan, for the heads of the several de- 
partments, and for the attorney-general ; and it is believed 
that the public ground in the city, applied to these objects, 
will be found amply sufficient. I submit this subject to 
the consideration of Congress, that such provision may 
be made in it as to them may seem proper. 

In contemplating the happy situation of the United 
States, our attention is drawn, with peculiar interest, to 
the surviving officers and soldiers of our revolutionary 
army, who so eminently contributed, by their services, to 
lay its foundation. Most of those very meritorious citi- 
zens have paid the debt of nature and gone to repose. It 
is believed, that among the survivors there are some not 
provided for by existing laws, who are reduced to indi- 
gence, and even to real distress. These men have a 
claim on the gratitude of their country, and it will do 
honor to their country to provide for them. The lapse 
of a few years more, and the opportunity will be forever 
lost; indeed, so long, already, has been the interval, that 
the number to be benefited by any provision which may 
be made, will not be great. 

X • • • 

It appearing in a satisfactory manner that the revenue 
arising from imposts and tonnage, and from the sale of 
public lands, will be fully adequate to the support of the 
civil government, of the present military and naval estab- 
lishments, including the annual augmentation of the latter 
to the extent provided for, to the payment of the interest 
on the public debt, and to the extinguishment of it at the 
times authorized, without the aid of the internal taxes, I 
consider it my duty to recommend to Congress their re- 
peal. To impose taxes when the public exigencies 
require them, is an obligation of the most sacred charac- 
ter, especially with a free people. The faithful fulfilment 
of it is among the highest proofs of their virtue and ca- 
pacity for self-government. To dispense w r ith taxes, 
when it may be done with perfect safety, is equally the 



J. Q. ADAMS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 107 

duty of their representatives. In this instance, we have 
the satisfaction to know that they were imposed when the 
demand was imperious, and have been sustained with 
exemplary fidelity. I have to add, that, however gratify- 
ing it may be to me, regarding the prosperous aud happy 
condition of our country, to recommend the repeal of 
these taxes at this time, I shall, nevertheless, be attentive 
to events, and, should any future emergency occur, be not 
less prompt to suggest such measures and burdens as may 
then be requisite and proper. 



J. Q. ADAMS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

March 4, 1325. 

In compliance with a usage coeval with the existence 
of our federal constitution, and sanctioned by the example 
of my predecessors in the career upon which I am about 
to enter, I appear, my fellow-citizens, in your presence, 
and in that of Heaven, to bind myself, by the solemnities 
of a religious obligation, to the faithful performance of the 
duties allotted to me, in the station to which I have been 
called. 

In unfolding to my countrymen the principles by which 
I shall be governed in the fulfilment of those duties, my 
first resort will be to that constitution, which I shall 
swear, to the best of my ability, to preserve, protect, and 
defend. That revered instrument enumerates the powers 
and prescribes the duties of the executive magistrate ; and, 
in its first words, declares the purposes to which these, 
and the whole action of the government, instituted by it, 
should be invariably and sacredly devoted — to form a 
more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tran- 
quillity, provide for the common defence, promote the 
general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to 
the people of this Union, in their successive generations. 
Since the adoption of this social compact, one of these 
generations has passed away. It is the work of our 



108 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

forefathers. Administered by some of the most eminent 
men who contributed to its formation, through a most 
eventful period in the annals of the world, and through 
all the vicissitudes of peace and war, incidental to the 
condition of associated man, it has not disappointed the 
hopes and aspirations of those illustrious benefactors of 
their age and nation. It has promoted the lasting wel- 
fare of that country, so dear to us all ; it has, to an extent 
far beyond the ordinary lot of humanity, secured the 
freedom and happiness of this people. We now receive 
it as a precious inheritance from those to whom we are 
indebted for its establishment, doubly bound by the ex- 
amples they have left us, and by the blessings which we 
have enjoyed, as the fruits of their labors, to transmit the 
same, unimpaired, to the succeeding generations. 

In the compass of thirty-six years, since this great 
national covenant was instituted, a body of laws enacted 
under its authority, and in conformity with its provisions^ 
has unfolded its powers, and carried into practical opera- 
tion its effective energies. Subordinate departments have 
distributed the executive functions in their various rela- 
tions to foreign affairs, to the revenue and expenditures, 
and to the military force of the Union by land and sea, 
A coordinate department of the judiciary has expounded 
the constitution and the laws; settling, in harmonious 
coincidence with the legislative will, numerous weighty 
questions of construction which the imperfection of hu- 
man language had rendered unavoidable. The year of 
jubilee since the first formation of our Union has just 
elapsed ; that of the declaration of independence is at 
hand. The consummation of both was effected by this 
constitution. Since that period, a population of four 
millions has multiplied to twelve. A territory, bounded 
by the Mississippi, has been extended from sea to sea. 
New states have been admitted to the Union, in numbers 
nearly equal to those of the first confederation. Treaties 
of peace, amity, and commerce, have been concluded with 
the principal dominions of the earth. The people of 
other nEitions, the inhabitants of regions acquired, not by 
conquest, but by compact, have been united with us in the 
participation of our rights and duties, of our burdens and 



J. Q. ADAMS 5 S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 109 

blessings. The forest has fallen by the axe of our woods- 
men ; the soil has been made to teem by the tillage of 
our farmers ; our commerce has whitened every ocean. 
The dominion of man over physical nature has been ex- 
tended by the invention of our artists. Liberty and law 
have marched hand in hand. All the purposes of human 
association have been accomplished as effectively as un- 
der any other government on the globe, and at a cost 
little exceeding, in a whole generation, the expenditures 
of other nations in a single year. 

Such is the unexaggerated picture of our condition 
under a constitution founded upon the republican princi- 
ple of equal rights. To admit that this picture has its 
shades, is but to say that it is still the condition of men 
upon earth. From evil, physical, moral, and political, it 
is not our claim to be exempt. We have suffered some- 
times by the visitation of Heaven, through disease ; often 
by the wrongs and injustices of other nations, even to the 
extremities of war : and lastly, by dissensions among our- 
selves — dissensions, perhaps, inseparable from the enjoy- 
ment of freedom, but which have more than once appeared 
to threaten the dissolution of the Union, and, with it, the 
overthrow of all the enjoyments of our present lot, and 
all our earthly hopes of the future. The causes of these 
dissensions have been various, founded upon differences 
of speculation in the theory of republican government; 
upon conflicting views of policy, in our relations with 
foreign nations ; upon jealousies of partial and sectional 
interests, aggravated by prejudices and prepossessions, 
which strangers to each other are ever apt to entertain. 

It is a source of gratification and of encouragement to 
me, to observe that the great result of this experiment 
upon the theory of human rights has, at the close of that 
generation by which it was formed, been crowned with 
success equal to the most sanguine expectations of its 
founders. Union, justice, tranquillity, the common de- 
fence, the general welfare, and the blessings of liberty, all 
have been promoted by the government under which we 
have lived. Standing at this point of time; looking back 
to that generation which has gone by, and forward to that 
which is advancing, we may at once indulge in grateful 
10 



HO THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

exultation and in cheering hope. From the experience 
of the past, we derive instructive lessons for the future. 
Of the two great political parties which have divided the 
opinions and feelings of our country, the candid and the 
just will now admit that both have contributed splendid 
talents, spotless integrity, ardent patriotism, and disinter- 
ested sacrifices, to the formation and administration of this 
government ; and that both have required a liberal indul- 
gence for a portion of human infirmity and error. The 
revolutionary wars of Europe, commencing precisely at 
the moment when the government of the United States 
first went into operation under this constitution, excited 
a collision of sentiments and of sympathies, which kin- 
dled all the passions, and imbittered the conflict of par- 
ties, till the nation was involved in war, and the Union 
was shaken to its centre. This time of trial embraced a 
period of five-and-twenty years, during which the policy 
of the Union, in its relations with Europe, constituted 
the principal basis of our political divisions, and the most 
arduous part of the action of our federal government, 
With the catastrophe in which the wars of the French 
revolution terminated, and our own subsequent peace 
with Great Britain, this bnneful weed of party strife was 
uprooted. From that time, no difference of principle, 
connected either with the theory of government, or with 
our intercourse with foreign nations, has existed, or been 
called forth in force sufficient to sustain a continued com- 
bination of parties, or give more than wholesome ani- 
mation to public sentiment or legislative debate. Our 
political creed is, without a dissenting voice that can be 
heard, that the will of the people is the source, and the 
happiness of the people the end, of all legitimate govern- 
ment upon earth. That the best security for the benefi- 
cence, and the best guaranty against the abuse of power, 
consists in the freedom, the purity, and the frequency of 
popular elections; that the general government of the 
Union, and the separate governments of the states, are 
all sovereignties of legitimated powers — fellow-servants 
of the same masters, uncontrolled within their respective 
spheres, uncontrollable by encroachments upon each oth- 
er ; that the firmest security of peace is the prepara- 



J. Q. ADAMS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. Ill 

tion during peace of the defences of war ; that a rigor- 
ous economy, and accountability of public expenditures, 
should miard ao-ainst the aggravation, and alleviate, when 
possible, the burden of taxation ; that the military should 
be kept in strict subordination to the civil power ; that 
the freedom of the press and of religious opinion should 
be inviolate ; that the policy of our country is peace, 
and the ark of our salv >tion union, — are articles of faith 
upon which we are all agreed. If there have been those 
who doubted whether a confederated representative de- 
mocracy were a government competent to the wise and 
orderly management of the common concerns of a mighty 
nation, those doubts have been dispelled. If there hive 
been projects of partial confederacies to be erected upon 
the ruins of the Union, they have been scattered to the 
winds. If there have been dangerous attachments to one 
foreign nation, and antipathies against another, they have 
been extinguished. Ten years of peace, at home and 
abroad, have assuaged the animosities of political conten- 
tion, and blended into harmony the most discordant ele- 
ments of public opinion. There still remains one effort 
of magnanimity, one sacrifice of prejudice and passion, to 
be made by the individuals throughout the nation, who 
have heretofore followed the standard of political party. 
It is that of discarding every remnant of rancor against 
each other; of embracing as countrymen and friends; 
and of yielding to talents and virtue alone that confi- 
dence which, in times of contention for principle, was 
bestowed only upon those who bore the badge of party 
communion. 

The collisions of party spirit, which originated in specu- 
lative opinions, or in different views of administrative 
policy, are in their nature transitory. Those which are 
founded on geographical divisions, adverse interests of 
soil, climate, and modes of domestic life, are more per- 
manent, and therefore, perhaps, more dangerous. It is 
this which gives inestimable value to the character of our 
government, at once federal and national. It holds out 
to us a perpetual admonition to preserve alike, and with 
equal anxiety, the rights of each individual state in its 
own government, and the rights of the whole nation in 



112 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 



that of the Union. Whatever is of domestic concernment, 
unconnected with the other members of the Union, or with 
foreign lands, belongs exclusively to the administration of 
the state governments. Whatsoever directly involves the 
rights and interests of the federative fraternity, or of for- 
eign powers, is of the resort of this general government. 
The duties of both are obvious in the general principle, 
though sometimes perplexed with difficulties in the detail. 
To respect the rights of the state governments is the 
inviolable duty of that of the Union ; the government of 
every state will feel its own obligation to respect and 
preserve the rights of the whole. The prejudices every 
where too commonly entertained against distant strangers 
are worn away, and the jealousies of jarring interests are 
allayed by the composition and functions of the great 
national councils annually assembled from all quarters of 
the Union at this place. Here the distinguished men from 
every section of our country, while meeting to deliberate 
upon the great interests of those by whom they are de- 
puted, learn to estimate the talents, and do justice to the 
virtues, of each other. The harmony of the nation is 
promoted, and the whole Union is knit together by the 
sentiments of mutual respect, the habits of social inter- 
course, and the ties of personal friendship, formed between 
the representatives of its several parts, in the performance 
of their service at this metropolis. 

Passing from this general review of the purposes and 
injunctions of the federal constitution and their results, 
as indicating the first traces of the path of duty in the 
discharge of my public trust, I turn to the administration 
of my immediate predecessor, as the second. It has passed 
away in a period of profound peace ; how much to the sat- 
isfaction of our country, and to the honor of our country's 
name, is known to you all. The great features of its 
policy, in general concurrence with the will of the legis- 
lature, have been — to cherish peace while preparing for 
defensive war ; to yield exact justice to other nations, and 
maintain the rights of our own ; to cherish the principles 
of freedom and of equal rights, wherever they were pro- 
claimed ; to discharge with all possible promptitude the 
national debt ; to reduce within the narrowest limits 



J. Q. ADAMS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 113 

of efficiency the military force ; to improve the organiza- 
tion and discipline of the army ; to provide and sustain a 
school of military science; to extend equal protection to 
all the great interests of the nation ; to promote the civil- 
ization of the Indian tribes; and to proceed in the great 
system of internal improvements within the limits of the 
constitutional power of the Union. Under the pledge of 
these promises, made by that eminent citizen, at the time 
of his first induction to this office, in his career of eight 
years, the internal taxes have been repealed : sixty millions 
of the public debt have been discharged; provision has 
been made for the comfort and relief of the aged and in- 
digent among the surviving warriors of the revolution ; the 
regular armed force has been reduced, and its constitution 
revised and perfected; the accountability for the expend- 
itures of public moneys has been made more effective ; 
the Floridas have been peaceably acquired, and our boun- 
dary has been extended to the Pacific Ocean ; the independ- 
ence of the southern nations of this hemisphere has been 
recognized, and recommended by example and by counsel 
to the potentates of Europe; progress has been made in 
the defence of the country by fortifications, and the increase 
of the navy — towards the effectual suppression of the 
African traffic in slaves — in alluring the aboriginal hunt- 
ers of our land to the cultivation of the soil and of the 
mind — in exploring the interior regions of the Union, 
and in preparing, by scientific researches and surveys, for 
the further application of our national resources to the 
internal improvement of our country. 

In this brief outline of the promise and performance of 
my immediate predecessor, the line of duty for his suc- 
cessor is clearly delineated. To pursue to their consum- 
mation those purposes of improvement in our common 
condition, instituted or recommended by him, will embrace 
the whole sphere of my obligations. To the topic of in- 
ternal improvement, emphatically urged by him at his 
inauguration, I recur with peculiar satisfaction. It is that 
from which I am convinced that the unborn millions of 
our posterity, who are in future ages to people this con- 
tinent, will derive their most fervent gratitude to the 
founders of the Union ; that in which the beneficent action 
10* 



114 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

of its government will be most deeply felt and acknowl- 
edged. The magnificence and splendor of their public 
works are among the imperishable glories of the ancient 
republics. The roads and aqueducts of Rome have 
been the admiration of all after-ages, and have survived 
thousands of years, after all her conquests have been 
swallowed up in despotism, or become the spoil of bar- 
barians. Some diversity of opinion has prevailed with 
regard to the powers of Congress for legislation upon ob- 
jects of this nature. The most respectful deference is due 
to doubts, originating in pure patriotism, and sustained by 
venerated authority. But nearly twenty years have passed 
since the construction of the first national road was com- 
menced. The authority for its construction was then un- 
questioned. To how many thousands of our countrymen 
has it proved a benefit! To what single individual has 
it ever proved an injury? Repeated, liberal, and candid 
discussions in the legislature have conciliated the sen- 
timents, and approximated the opinions of enlightened 
minds, upon the question of constitutional power. I can- 
not but hope that, by the same process of friendly, patient, 
and persevering deliberation, all constitutional objections 
will ultimately be removed. The extent and limitation of 
the powers of the general government, in relation to this 
transcendcntly important interest, will be settled and ac- 
knowledged to the common satisfaction of all ; and every 
speculative scruple will be solved by a practical public 
blessing. 

Fellow-citizens, you are acquainted with the peculiar 
circumstances of the recent elections, which have resulted 
in affording me the opportunity of addressing you at this 
time. You have heard the exposition of the principles 
Avhich will direct me in the fulfilment of the high and 
solemn trust imposed upon me in this station. Less pos- 
sessed of your confidence in advance than any of my 
predecessors, I am deeply conscious of the prospect that 
I shall stand, more and oftener, in need of your indulgence. 
Intentions, upright and pure ; a heart devoted to the wel- 
fare of our country, and the unceasing application of the 
faculties allotted to me to her service, are all the pledges 
that T can give to the faithful performance of the arduous 



J. (i. AI)AMS ; S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 115 

duties I am to undertake. To the guidance of the legis- 
lative councils; to the assistance of the executive and 
.subordinate, departments; to the friendly cooperation of 
the respective state governments ; to the candid and liberal 

support of the people, so far as it may be deserved by 
honest industry and zeaT, I shall look for whatever success 

may attend my public service; and knowing that, except 

the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain, 
with fervent supplications for bis favor, to bis overruling 

providence I commit, with bumble but fearless confidence, 
my own fate and the future destinies of my country. 



J. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 

DECfcMBEB 6, L825. 

To the Senate and 

House of Representatives of the United States : 
!\ taking ;i general survey of the concerns of our be- 
loved country, with reference to subjects interesting to the 
common welfare, the first sentiment which impresses itself 
upon the mind, is, of gratitude to the Omnipotent Disposer 
of all good, for tin- continuance, of the signal blessings of 
bifl providence, and especially for that health which, to an 

unusual extent, has prevailed within our borders ; and lor 
that abundance which, in the vicissitudes of the seasons, 
has been scattered with profusion over our land. Nor 
ought v. e less to ascribe to Him the {dory, that we are 
permitted to enjoy the bounties of his hand in peace and 
tranquillity — in peace with nil the other nations of the 
earth, in tranquillity among ourselves. There has, indeed, 

rarely been a period in the history of civilized man, in 
which the general condition of the Christian nations has 
been marked so extensively by peace and prosperity. 

Europe, with a few partial and unhappy exceptions, has 
enjoyed ten years of peace, during which all her c_ r overn- 

ments, whatevei the theory of their constitutions may have 
been, are successively taught to feel that the end of their 



116 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

institutions is the happiness of the people, and that the 
exercise of power among men can be justified only by the 
blessings it confers upon those over whom it is extended. 

During the same period, our intercourse with all those 
nations has been pacific and friendly ; it so continues. 
Since the close of your late session, no material variation 
has occurred in our relations with any one of them. In 
the commercial and navigation system of Great Britain, 
important changes of municipal regulations have recently 
been sanctioned by the acts of parliament, the effect of 
which upon the interests of other nations, and particularly 
upon ours, has not yet been fully developed. In the recent 
renewal of the diplomatic missions, on both sides, between 
the two governments, assurances have been given and re- 
ceived of the continuance and increase of the mutual 
confidence and cordiality by which the adjustment of many 
points of difference has already been effected, and which 
affords the surest pledge for the ultimate satisfactory ad- 
justment of those which still remain open, or may here- 
after arise. 

The policy of the United States, in their commercial 
intercourse with other nations, has always been of the 
most liberal character. In the mutual exchange of their 
respective productions, they have abstained altogether from 
prohibitions ; they have interdicted themselves the power 
of laying taxes upon exports, and whenever they have 
favored their own shipping, by special preferences or ex- 
clusive privileges in their own ports, it has been only with 
a view to countervail similar favors and exclusions granted 
by the nations with whom we have been engaged in traffic, 
to their own people or shipping, and to the disadvantage 
of ours. Immediately after the close of the last war, a 
proposal was fairly made by the act of Congress of the 3d 
March, 1815, to all maritime nations, to lay aside the sys- 
tem of retaliating restrictions and exclusions, and to place 
the shipping of both parties to the common trade on a 
footing of equality in respect to the duties of tonnage and 
impost. This offer was partially and successively accepted 
by Great Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the Hanseatic 
cities, Prussia, Sardinia, the Duke of Oldenburg, and Rus- 
sia. It was also adopted, under certain modifications, in 



J. Q,. ADAMSES FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 117 

our late commercial convention with France. And by the 
act of Congress of the 8th of January, 1824, it has received 
a new confirmation with all the nations who had acceded 
to it, and has been offered again to all those who are or 
may hereafter be willing to abide in reciprocity by it. But 
all these regulations, whether established by treaty or by 
municipal enactments, are still subject to one important 
restriction. 

The removal of discriminating duties of tonnage and 
impost, is limited to articles of the growth, produce, or 
manufacture of the country to which the vessel belongs, 
or to such articles as are most universally shipped from 
her ports. It will deserve the serious consideration of 
Congress, whether even this remnant of restriction may 
not be safely abandoned, and whether the general tender of 
equal competition, made in the act of 8th January, 1824, 
may not be extended to include all articles of merchandise 
not prohibited, of what country soever they may be the 
produce or manufacture. Propositions to this effect have 
already been made to us by more than one European gov- 
ernment, and it is probable that if once established by 
legislation or compact with any distinguished maritime 
state, it would recommend itself, by the experience of its 
advantages, to the general accession of all. 

The convention of commerce and navigation between 
the United States and France, concluded on the 24th of 
June, 1822, was, in the understanding and intent of both 
parties, as appears upon its face, only a temporary arrange- 
ment of the points of difference between them of the most 
immediate and pressing urgency. It was limited, in the 
first instance, to two years from the 1st of October, 1822, 
but with a proviso, that it should further continue in force 
till the conclusion of a general and definitive treaty of 
commerce, unless terminated by a notice six months in 
advance, of either of the parties to the other. Its opera- 
tion, so far as it extended, has been mutually advantageous ; 
and it still continues in force by common consent. But it 
left unadjusted several objects of great interest to the cit- 
izens and subjects of both countries, and particularly a 
mass of claims, to considerable amount, of citizens of the 
United States upon the government of France, of indem- 



118 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

nity for property taken or destroyed, under circumstances 
of the most aggravated and outrageous character. In the 
long period during which continued and earnest appeals 
have been made to the equity and magnanimity of France, 
in behalf of those claims, their justice has not been, as it 
could not be, denied. It was hoped that the accession of 
a new sovereign to the throne, would have afforded a favor- 
able opportunity for presenting them to the consideration 
of his government. They have been presented and urged, 
hitherto without effect. The repeated and earnest represen- 
tations of our minister at the court of France, remain as 
yet even without an answer. Were the demands of nations 
upon the justice of each other susceptible of adjudication by 
the decision of an impartial tribunal, those to whom I now 
refer would long since have been settled, and adequate 
indemnity would have been obtained. There are large 
amounts of similar claims upon the Netherlands, Naples, 
and Denmark. For those upon Spain, prior to 1819, in- 
demnity was, after many years of patient forbearance, ob- 
tained, and those of Sweden have been lately compromised 
by a private settlement, in which the claimants themselves 
have acquiesced. The governments of Denmark and of 
Naples have been recently reminded of those yet existing 
against them ; nor will any of them be forgotten while a 
hope may be indulged of obtaining justice, by the means 
within the constitutional power of the executive, and with- 
out resorting to those means of self-redress, which, as well 
as the time, circumstances, and occasion, which may re- 
quire them, are within the exclusive competency of the 
legislature. 

It is with great satisfaction that I am enabled to bear 
witness to the liberal spirit with which the republic of 
Colombia has made satisfaction for well-established claims 
of a similar character. And among the documents now 
communicated to Congress, will be distinguished a treaty 
of commerce and navigation with that republic, the ratifi- 
cations of which have been exchanged since the last recess 
of the legislature. The negotiation of similar treaties 
with all the independent South American states, has been 
contemplated, and may yet be accomplished. The basis 
of them all, as proposed by the United States, has been 



J. Q. ADAMs's FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 119 

laid in two principles ; the one, of entire and unqualified 
reciprocity ; the other, the mutual obligation of the parties 
to place each other permanently on the footing of the most 
favored nation. These principles are, indeed, indispen- 
sable to the effectual emancipation of the American hemi- 
sphere from the thraldom of colonizing monopolies and 
exclusions — an event rapidly realizing in the progress of 
human affairs, and which the resistance still opposed in 
certain parts of Europe to the acknowledgment of the 
Southern American republics as independent states, will, 
it is believed, contribute more effectually to accomplish. 
The time has been, and that not remote, when some of 
these states might, in their anxious desire to obtain a nomi- 
nal recognition, have accepted of a nominal independence, 
clogged with burdensome conditions, and exclusive com- 
mercial privileges, granted to the nation from which they 
have separated, to the disadvantage of all others. They 
now are all aware that such concessions to any European 
nation would be incompatible with that independence which 
they have declared and maintained. 

Among the measures which have been suggested to 
them by the new relations with one another, resulting from 
the recent changes in their condition, is that of assembling 
at the Isthmus of Panama, a Congress, at which each of 
them should be represented, to deliberate upon objects im- 
portant to the welfare of all. The republics of Colombia, 
of Mexico, and of Central America, have already deputed 
plenipotentiaries to such a meeting, and they have invited 
the United States to be also represented there by their 
ministers. The invitation has been accepted, and ministers 
on the part of the United States will be commissioned to 
attend at those deliberations, and to take part in them, so 
far as it may be compatible with that neutrality from which 
it is neither our intention nor the desire of the American 
states that we should depart. 

The commissioners under the seventh article of the 
treaty of Ghent have so nearly completed their arduous 
labors, that, by the report recently received from their 
agent on the part of the United States, there is reason to 
expect that the commission will be closed at their next 
session, appointed for the 22d of May, of the ensuing year. 



120 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

The other commission, appointed to ascertain the in- 
demnities due for slaves carried away from the United 
States, after the close of the late war, have met with some 
difficulty, which has delayed their progress in the inquiry. 
A reference has been made to the British government on the 
subject, which, it may be hoped, will tend to hasten the de- 
cision of the commissioners, or serve as a substitute for it. 

Among the powers specifically granted to Congress by 
the constitution, are those of establishing uniform laws on 
the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ; 
and for providing for organizing, arming, and disciplining 
the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be 
employed in the service of the United States. The mag- 
nitude and complexity of the interests affected by legisla- 
tion upon these subjects, may account for the fact, that 
long and often as both of them have occupied the attention, 
and animated the debates of Congress, no systems have yet 
been devised for fulfilling, to the satisfaction of the com- 
munity, the duties prescribed by these grants of power. 
To conciliate the claim of the individual citizen to the en- 
joyment of personal liberty, with the effective obligation of 
private contracts, is the difficult problem to be solved by a 
law of bankruptcy. These are objects of the deepest in- 
terest to society ; affecting all that is precious in the 
existence of multitudes of persons, many of them in the 
classes essentially dependent and helpless ; of the age re- 
quiring nurture, and of the sex entitled to protection from 
the free agency of the parent and the husband. The 
organization of the militia is yet more indispensable to the 
liberties of the country. It is only by an effective militia 
that we can at once enjoy the repose of peace, and bid 
defiance to foreign aggression ; it is by the militia that 
we are constituted an armed nation, standing in perpetual 
panoply of defence, in the presence of all the other nations 
of the earth. To this end, it would be necessary, if possi- 
ble, so to shape its organization, as to give it a more united 
and active energy. There are laws for establishing a 
uniform militia throughout the United States, and for 
arming and equipping its whole body. But it is a body 
of dislocated members, without the vigor of unity, and 
having little of uniformity but the name. To infuse into 



J. Q,. ADAMS S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 121 

this most important institution the power of which it is 
susceptible, and to make it available for the defence of the 
Union, at the shortest notice, and at the smallest expense 
possible of time, of life, and of treasure, are among the 
benefits to be expected from the persevering deliberations 
of Congress. 

Among the unequivocal indications of our national 
prosperity, is the flourishing state of our finances. The 
revenues of the present year, from all their principal 
sources, will exceed the anticipations of the last. The 
balance in the treasury on the first of January last, was a 
little short of two millions of dollars, exclusive of two 
millions and a half, being a moiety of the loan of five 
millions, authorized by the act of the 26th May, 1824. 
The receipts into the treasury from the 1st of January to 
the 39th of September, exclusive of the other moiety of 
the same loan, are estimated at sixteen millions five hun- 
dred thousand dollars; and it is expected that those of 
the current year will exceed five millions of dollars ; form- 
ing an aggregate of receipts of nearly twenty-two millions, 
independent of the loan. The expenditures of the year 
will not exceed that sum more than two millions. By 
those expenditures, nearly eight millions of the principal 
of the public debt have been discharged. More than a 
million and a half has been devoted to the debt of gratitude 
to the warriors of the revolution; a nearly equal sum to 
the construction of fortifications and the acquisition of 
ordnance, and other permanent preparations of national 
defence; half a m llion to the gradual increase of the 
navy ; an equal sum for purchases of territory from the 
Indians, and payment of annuities to them; and upwards 
of a million for objects of internal improvement, author- 
ized by special acts of the last Congress If we add to 
these, four millions of dollars for payment of interest upon 
the public debt, there remains a sum of about seven mil- 
lions, which has defrayed the whole expense of the admin- 
istration of government, in its legislative, executive, and 
judiciary departments, including the support of the military 
and naval establishments, and all the occasional contingen- 
cies of a government coextensive with the Union. 

The amount of duties secured on merchandise imported, 
11 



122 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

since the commencement of the year, is about twenty-five 
millions and a half; and that which will accrue during the 
current quarter, is estimated at five millions and a half; 
from these thirty-one millions, deducting the drawbacks, 
estimated at less than seven millions, a sum exceeding 
twenty-four millions will constitute the revenue of the 
year, and will exceed the whole expenditures of the year. 
The entire amount of the public debt remaining due on 
the first of January next, will be short of eighty-one mil- 
lions of dollars. 

By an act of Congress of the 3d of March last, a loan of 
twelve millions of dollars was authorized at four and a half 
per cent., or an exchange of stock to that amount, of four 
and a half per cent., for a stock of six per cent., to create 
a fund for extinguishing an equal amount of the public 
debt, bearing an interest of six per cent., redeemable in 
1826. An account of the measures taken to give effect to 
this act will be laid before you by the Secretary of the 
Treasury. As the object which it had in view has been 
but partially accomplished, it will be for the consideration 
of Congress, whether the power with which it clothed the 
executive should not be renewed at an early day of the 
present session, and under what modifications. 

The act of Congress of the 3d of March last, directing 
the Secretary of the Treasury to subscribe, in the name 
and for the use of the United States, for one thousand five 
hundred shares of the capital stock of the Chesapeake and 
Delaware Canal Company, has been executed by the actual 
subscription for the sum specified ; and such other meas- 
ures have been adopted by that officer, under the act, as 
the fulfilment of its intentions requires. The latest ac- 
counts received of this important undertaking, authorize 
the belief th it it is in successful progress. 

The payments into the treasury from proceeds of the 
sales of the public lands, during the present year, were 
estimated at one million of dollars. The actual receipts 
of the first two quarters have fallen very little short of that 
sum : it is not expected that the second half of the year 
will be equally productive ; but the income of the year, 
from that source, may now be safely estimated at a million 
and a half. The act of Congress of the 18th of May, 



J. Q. ADAMS'S FTRST ANNTTAT. MRSSAftE. 123 

1S24, to provide for the extinguishment of the debt due to 
the United States by the purchasers of public lands, was 
limited, in its operation of relief to the purchaser, to the 
10th of April last. Its effect at the end of the quarter 
during which it expired, was to reduce that debt from ten 
to seven millions. By the operation of similar prior laws 
of relief, from and since that of 2d March, 1821, the debt 
has been reduced from upwards of twenty-two millions to 
ten. It is exceedingly desirable that it should be ex- 
tinguished altogether; and to facilitate that consummation, 
I recommend to Congress the revival, for one year more, 
of the act of 18th May, 1824, with such provisional modi- 
fication as may be necessary to guard the public interests 
against fraudulent practices in the re-sale of relinquished 
land. The purchasers of public lands are among the most 
useful of our fellow-citizens ; and, since the system of 
sales for cash alone has been introduced, great indulgence 
has been justly extended to those who had previously pur- 
chased upon credit. The debt which had been contracted 
under the credit sales had become unwieldy, and its ex- 
tinction was alike advantageous to the purchaser and the 
public. Under the system of sales, matured as it has been 
by experience, and adapted to the exigencies of the times, 
the lands will continue, as they have become, an abundant 
source of revenue ; and when the pledge of them to the 
public creditor shall have been redeemed, by the entire 
discharge of the national debt, the swelling tide of wealth 
with which they replenish the common treasury, may be 
made to re-flow in unfailing streams of improvement, from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. 

The condition of t.hp. various branches of the public 
service resorting from the Department of War, and their ad- 
ministration during the current year, will be exhibited in 
the report of the Secretary of War, and the accompanying 
documents, herewith communicated. The organization 
and discipline of the army are effective and satisfactory. 
To counteract the prevalence of desertion among the 
troops, it has been suggested to withhold from the men a 
small portion of their monthly pay, until the period of 
their discharge; and some expedient appears to be ne- 
cessary, to preserve and maintain among the officers so 



124 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

much of the art of horsemanship as could scarcely fail to 
be found wanting on the possibly sudden eruption of a 
war, which should overtake us unprovided with a single 
corps of cavalry. The Military Academy at West Point, 
under the restrictions of a severe but paternal superin- 
tendence, recommends itself more and more to the patron- 
age of the nation ; and the number of meritorious officers 
which it forms and introduces to the public service, fur- 
nishes the means of multiplying the undertaking of public 
improvements, to which their acquirements at that insti- 
tution are peculiarly adapted. The school of artillery 
practice, established at Fortress Monroe, is well suited to 
the same purpose, and may need the aid of further legis- 
lative provision to the same end. The reports of the 
various officers at the head of the administrative branches 
of the military service, connected with the quartering, 
clothing, subsistence, health, and pay of the army, exhibit 
the assiduous vigilance of those officers in the perform- 
ance of their respective duties, and the faithful accounta- 
bility which has pervaded every part of the system. 

Our relations with the numerous tribes of aboriginal 
natives of this country, scattered over its extensive sur- 
face, and so dependent, even for their existence, upon our 
power, have been, during the present year, highly inter- 
esting. An act of Congress of the 25th of May, 1824, 
made an appropriation to defray the expenses of making 
treaties of trade and friendship with the Indian tribes 
beyond the Mississippi. An act of the 3d of March, 1825, 
authorized treaties to be made with the Indians for their 
consent to the making of a road from the frontier of Mis- 
souri to that of New Mexico. And another act, of the 
same date, provided for defraying the expenses of holding 
treaties with the Sioux, Chippewas, Menomonees, Sacs, 
Foxes, &c, for the purposes of establishing boundaries 
and promoting peace between said tribes. The first and 
the last objects of these acts have been accomplished; and 
the second is yet in a process of execution. The treaties 
which, since the last session of Congress, have been con- 
cluded with the several tribes, will be laid before the Sen- 
ate for their consideration, conformably to the constitution. 
They comprise large and valuable acquisitions of terri- 



J. Q,. AD-AMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 125 

tory ; and they secure an adjustment of boundaries, and 
give pledges of permanent peace between several tribes 
which had been long waging bloody wars against each 
other. 

On the 12th of February last, a treaty was signed at 
the Indian Springs, between commissioners appointed on 
the part of the United States, and certain chiefs and in- 
dividuals of the Creek nation of Indians, which was re- 
ceived at the seat of government only a very few days 
before the close of the last session of Congress and of the 
late administration. The advice and consent of the Sen- 
ate was given to it on the 3d of March, too late for it to 
receive the ratification of the then President of the United 
States : it was ratified on the 7th of March, under the 
unsuspecting impression that it had been negotiated in 
good faith, and in the confidence inspired by the recom- 
mendation of the Senate. The subsequent transactions 
in relation to this treaty will form the subject of a sepa- 
rate communication. 

The appropriations made by Congress for public works, 
as well in the construction of fortifications, as for pur- 
poses of internal improvement, so far as they have been 
expended, have been faithfully applied. Their progress 
has been delayed by the want of suitable officers for su- 
perintending them. An increase of both the corps of 
engineers, military and topographical, was recommended 
by my predecessor at the last session of Congress. The 
reasons upon which that recommendation was founded, 
subsist in all their force, and have acquired additional 
urgency since that time. It may also be expedient to 
organize the topographical engineers into a corps similar 
to the present establishment of the corps of engineers. 
The Military Academy at West Point will furnish, from 
the cadets annually graduated there, officers well qualified 
for carrying this measure into eft'ect. 

The board of engineers for internal improvement, ap- 
pointed for carrying into execution the act of Congress 
of 30th April, 1824, " to procure the necessary surveys, 
plans, and estimates, on the subject of roads and canals," 
have been actively engaged in that service from the close 
11* 



126 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

of the last session of Congress. They have completed 
the surveys necessary for ascertaining the practicability 
of a canal from the Chesapeake Bay to the Ohio River, 
and are preparing a full report on that subject, which, 
when completed, will be laid before you. The same ob- 
servation is to be made with regard to the two other ob- 
jects of national importance, upon which the board have 
been occupied ; namely, the accomplishment of a national 
road from this city to New Orleans, and the practicability 
of uniting the waters of Lake Memphremagog with Con- 
necticut River, and the improvement of the navigation of 
that river. The surveys have been made, and are nearly 
completed. The report may be expected at an early pe- 
riod during the present session of Congress. 

The acts of Congress of the last session, relative to the 
surveying, marking, or laying out roads in the territory 
of Florida, Arkansas, and Michigan, from Missouri to 
Mexico, and for the continuation of the Cumberland Road, 
are, some of them, fully executed, and others in the pro- 
cess of execution. Those for completing or commencing 
fortifications, have been delayed only so far as the corps 
of engineers have been inadequate to furnish officers for 
the necessary superintendence of the works. Under the 
acts confirming the statutes of Virginia and Maryland, 
incorporating the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, 
three commissioners on the part of the United States have 
been appointed for opening books and receiving subscrip- 
tions, in concert with a like number of commissioners 
appointed on the part of each of those states. A meeting 
of the commissioners has been postponed to await the 
definite report of the board of engineers. The light- 
houses and monuments for the safety of our commerce 
and mariners ; the works for the security of Plymouth 
Beach, and for the preservation of the islands in Boston 
harbor, have received the attention required by the laws 
relating to those objects, respectively. The continuation 
of the Cumberland Road, the most important of them all, 
after surmounting no inconsiderable difficulty in fixing 
upon the direction of the road, has commenced under the 
most promising auspices, with the improvements of recent 



J. Q. ADAMs's FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 127 

invention in the mode of construction, and with the ad- 
vantage of a great reduction in the comparative cost of 
the work. 

The operation of the laws relating to the revolutionary 
pensioners may deserve the renewed consideration of 
Congress. The act of the 18th March, 1818, while it 
made provision for many meritorious and indigent citi- 
zens who had served in the war of independence, opened 
a door to numerous abuses and impositions. To remedy 
this, the act of 1st May, 1820, exacted proofs of absolute 
indigence, which many really in want were unable, and 
all, susceptible of that delicacy which is allied to many 
virtues, must be deeply reluctant to give. The result has 
been, that some among the least deserving have been 
retained, and some in whom the requisites both of worth 
and want were combined, have been stricken from the 
list. As the numbers of these venerable relics of an age 
gone by diminish — as the decays of body, mind, and es- 
tate, of those that survive, must, in the common course of 
nature, increase — should not a more liberal portion of 
indulgence be dealt out to them 1 May not the want, in 
most instances, be inferred from the demand, when the 
service can be duly proved ? and may not the last days of 
human infirmity be spared the mortification of purchasing 
a pittance of relief, only by the exposure of its own neces- 
sities ? I submit to Congress the expediency of providing 
for individual cases of this description, by special enact- 
ment, or of revising the act of the 1st of May, 1820, with 
a view to mitigate the rigor of its exclusions, in favor of 
persons to whom charity, now bestowed, can scarcely dis- 
charge the debt of justice. 

The portion of the naval force of the Union, in actual 
service, has been chiefly employed on three stations : the 
Mediterranean, the coasts of South America bordering on 
the Pacific Ocean, and the West Indies. An occasional 
cruiser has been sent to range along the African shores 
most polluted by the traffic of slaves ; one armed vessel 
has been stationed on the coast of our eastern boundary, 
to cruise along the fishing-grounds in Hudson's Bay, and 
on the coast of Labrador ; and the first service of a new 
frigate has been performed in restoring to his native soil 



128 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

and domestic enjoyments the veteran hero whose youth- 
ful blood and treasure had freely flowed in the cause of 
our country's independence, and whose whole life has 
been a series of services and sacrifices to the improve- 
ment of his fellow-men. The visit of General Lafayette, 
alike honorable to himself and to our country, closed, as 
it had commenced, with the most affecting testimonials 
of devoted attachment on his part, and of unbounded 
gratitude of this people to him in return. It will form, 
hereafter, a pleasing incident in the annals of our Union, 
giving to real history the intense interest of romance, and 
signally marking the unpurchasable tribute of a great na- 
tion's social affections to the disinterested champion of the 
liberties of human kind. 

The constant maintenance of a small squadron in the 
Mediterranean is a necessary substitute for the humili- 
ating alternative of paying tribute for the security of our 
commerce in that sea, and for a precarious peace, at the 
mercy of every caprice of four Barbary states, by whom 
it was liable to be violated. An additional motive for 
keeping a respectable force stationed there at this time, 
is found in the maritime war raorino- between the Greeks 
and the Turks ; and in which the neutral navigation of 
this Union is always in danger of outrage and depredation. 
A few instances have occurred of such depredations upon 
our merchant vessels by privateers or pirates wearing the 
Grecian flag, but without real authority from the Greek 
or any other government. The heroic struggles of the 
Greeks themselves, in which our warmest sympathies, as 
freemen and Christians, have been engaged, have con- 
tinued to be maintained with vicissitudes of success ad- 
verse and favorable. 

Similar motives have rendered expedient the keeping a 
like force on the coasts of Peru and Chili, on the Pacific. 
The irregular and convulsive character of the war upon 
the shores has been extended to the conflicts upon the 
ocean. An active warfare has been kept up for years, 
with alternate success, though generally to the advantage 
of the American patriots. But their naval forces have not 
always been under the control of their own governments. 
Blockades, unjustifiable upon any acknowledged principles 



J. Q. ADAMs's FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 129 

of international law, have been proclaimed by officers in 
command; and, though disavowed by the supreme author- 
ities, the protection of our own commerce against them 
has been made a cause of complaint and erroneous im- 
putations against some of the most gallant officers of our 
navy. Complaints equally groundless have been made by 
the commanders of the Spanish royal forces in those seas; 
but the most effective protection to our commerce has been 
the flag and the firmness of our own commanding officers. 
The cessation of the war, by the complete triumph of the 
patriot cause, has removed, it is hoped, all cause of dissen- 
sion with one party, and all vestige of force of the other. 
But an unsettled coast of many degrees of latitude, form- 
ing a part of our own territory, and a flourishing com- 
merce and fishery, extending to the islands of the Pacific 
and to China, still require that the protecting power of the 
Union should be displayed under its flag, as well upon the 
ocean as upon the land. 

The objects of the West Indies squadron have been, to 
carry into execution the laws for the suppression of the 
African slave trade; for the protection of our commerce 
against vessels of piratical character, though bearing com- 
missions from either of the belligerent parties ; for its pro- 
tection against open and unequivocal pirates. These ob- 
jects, during the present year, have been accomplished 
more effectually than at any former period. The African 
slave trade has long been excluded from the use of our 
flag ; and if some few citizens of our country have con- 
tinued to set the laws of the Union, as well as those of 
nature and humanity, at defiance, by persevering in that 
abominable traffic, it has been only by sheltering them- 
selves under the banners of other nations, less earnest for 
the total extinction of the trade than ours. The irregular 
privateers have, within the last year, been in a great meas- 
ure banished from those seas ; and the pirates, for months 
past, appear to have been almost entirely swept away from 
the borders and the shores of the two Spanish islands in 
those regions. The active, persevering, and unremitted 
energy of Captain Warrington, and of the officers and men 
under his command, on that trying and perilous service, 
have been crowned with signal success, and are entitled to 



130 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN 

the approbation of their country. But experience hag 
shown that not even a temporary suspension or relaxation 
from assiduity can be indulged on that station without 
reproducing piracy and murder in all their horrors; nor is 
it probable that, for years to come, our immensely valuable 
commerce in those seas can navigate in security, without 
the steady continuance of an armed force devoted to its 
protection. 

It were indeed a~vain and dangerous illusion to believe 
that in the present or probable condition of human society, 
a commerce so extensive and so rich as ours could exist 
and be pursued in safety, without the continual support of 
a military marine — the only arm by which the power of 
this confederacy can be estimated or felt by foreign nations, 
and the only standing military force which can never be 
dangerous to our own liberties at home. A permanent 
naval peace establishment, therefore, adapted to our pres- 
ent condition, and adaptable to that gigantic growth with 
which the nation is advancing in its career, is among the 
subjects which have already occupied the foresight of the 
last Congress, and which will deserve your serious delib- 
erations. Our navy, commenced at an early period of our 
present political organization, upon a scale commensurate 
with the incipient energies, the scanty resources, and the 
comparative indigence of our infancy, was even then 
found adequate to cope with all the powers of Barbary, 
save the first, and with one of the principal maritime pow- 
ers of Europe. 

At a period of further advancement, but with little ac- 
cession of strength, it not only sustained with honor the 
most unequal of conflicts, but covered itself and our coun- 
try with unfading glory. But it is only since the close of 
the late war that, by the numbers and force of the ships 
of which it was composed, it could deserve the name of 
a navy. Yet it retains nearly the same organization as 
when it consisted of only five frigates. The rules and 
regulations by which it is governed earnestly call for re- 
vision ; and the want of a naval school of instruction, 
corresponding with the Military Academy at West Point, 
for the formation of scientific and accomplished officers, 
is felt with daily increasing aggravation. 



J. Q,. ADAJIs's FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 131 

The act of Congress of 26th of May, 1824, authorizing 
an examination and survey of the harbor of Charleston, in 
South Carolina, of St. Mary's, in Georgia, and of the coast 
of Florida, and for other purposes, has been executed so 
far as the appropriation would admit. Those of the 3d 
of March last, authorizing the establishment of a navy- 
yard and depot on the coast of Florida, in the Gulf of 
Mexico, and authorizing the building often sloops of war, 
and for other purposes, are in the course of execution; for 
the particulars of which and other objects connected with 
this department, I refer to the report of the Secretary of 
the Navy herewith communicated. 

A report from the Postmaster-general is also submitted, 
exhibiting the present flourishing condition of that de- 
partment. For the first time "for many years, the receipts 
for the year ending on the 1st of July last, exceeded the 
expenditures during the same period, to the amount of 
more than forty-five thousand dollars. Other facts, equally 
creditable to the administration of this department, are, 
that in two years from the 1st of July, 1823, an improve- 
ment of more than one hundred and eighty-five thousand 
dollars in its pecuniary affairs, has been realized; that, in 
the same interval, the increase of the transportation of the 
mail has exceeded one million five hundred thousand miles 
annually ; and that one thousand and forty new post-offices 
h ive been established. It hence appears, that under ju- 
dicious management, the income from this establishment 
may be relied on as fully adequate to defray its expenses ; 
and that, by the discontinuance of post roads, altogether 
unproductive, others of more useful character may be 
opened, till the circulation of the mail shall keep pace 
with the spread of our population, and the comforts of 
friendly correspondence, the exchanges of internal traffic, 
and the lights of the periodical press, shall be distributed 
to the remotest corners of the Union, at a charge scarcely 
perceptible to any individual, and without the cost of a 
dollar to the public treasury. 

Upon this first occasion of addressing the legislature of 
the Union, with which I have been honored, in presenting 
to their view the execution, so far as it has been effected, 
of the measures sanctioned by them, for promoting the 



132 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

internal improvement of our country, I cannot close the 
communication without recommending to their calm and 
persevering consideration the general principle in a more 
enlarged extent. The great object of the institution of 
civil government is the improvement of the condition of 
those who are parties to the social compact. And no gov- 
ernment, in whatever form constituted, can accomplish the 
lawful ends of its institution, but in proportion as it im- 
proves the condition of those over whom it is established. 
Roads and canals, by multiplying and facilitating the com- 
munications and intercourse between distant regions and 
multitudes of men, are among the most important means 
of improvement. But moral, political and intellectual 
improvement, are duties assigned by the Author of our ex- 
istence, to social, no less than to individual man. For the 
fulfilment of those duties, governments are invested with 
power ; and, to the attainment of the end, the progressive 
improvement of the condition of the governed, the exercise 
of delegated powers, is a duty as sacred and indispensable 
as the usurpation of powers not granted is criminal and 
odious. Among the first, perhaps the very first instrument 
for the improvement of the condition of men, is knowl- 
edge ; and to the acquisition of much of the knowledge 
adapted to the wants, the comforts, and enjoyments of 
human life, public institutions and seminaries of learning 
are essential. So convinced of this was the first of my 
predecessors in this office, now first in the memory, as, 
living, he was the first in the hearts of our country, that 
once and again, in his addresses to the Congresses with 
whom he cooperated in the public service, he earnestly 
recommended the establishment of seminaries of learning, 
to prepare for all the emergencies of peace and war — a 
national university, and a military academy. With respect 
to the latter, had he lived to the present day, in turning his 
eyes to the institution at West Point, he would have en- 
joyed the gratification of his most earnest wishes. But, in 
surveying the city which has been honored with his name, 
he would have seen the spot of earth which he had des- 
tined and bequeathed to the use and benefit of his coun- 
try as the site for a university, still bare and barren. 
In assuming her station among the civilized nations of 



J. Q. ADAMSES FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 133 

the earth, it would seem that our country had contracted 
the engagement to contribute her share of mind, of labor, 
and of expense, to the improvement of those parts of 
knowledge which lie beyond the reach of individual ac- 
quisition ; and particularly to geographical and astronom- 
ical science. Looking back to the history only of half 
the century since the declaration of our independence, and 
observing the generous emulation with which the govern- 
ments of France, Great Britain, and Russia, have devoted 
the genius, the intelligence, the treasures of their respec- 
tive nations, to the common improvement of the species in 
these branches of science, is it not incumbent upon us to 
inquire whether we are not bound by obligations of a high 
and honorable character to contribute our portion of en- 
ergy and exertion to the common stock 1 The voyages 
of discovery prosecuted in the course of that time at the 
expense of those nations, have not only redounded to their 
glory, but to the improvement of human knowledge. We 
have been partakers of that improvement, and owe for it a 
sacred debt, not only of gratitude, but of equal or propor- 
tional exertion in the same common cause. Of the cost 
of these undertakings, if the mere expenditures of outfit, 
equipment, and completion of the expeditions, were to be 
considered the only charges, it would be unworthy of a 
great and generous nation to take a second thought. One 
hundred expeditions of circumnavigation, like those of 
Cook and La Perouse, would not burden the exchequer of 
the nation fitting them out, so much as the ways and 
means of defraying a single campaign in war. But if we 
take into the account the lives of those benefactors of 
mankind, of which their services in the cause of their 
species were the purchase, how shall the cost of those 
heroic enterprises be estimated 1 And what compensation 
can be made to them, or to their countries for them ? Is 
it not by bearing them in affectionate remembrance? Is 
it not still more by imitating their example ? by enabling 
countrymen of our own to pursue the same career, and 
to hazard their lives in the same cause 1 

On inviting the attention of Congress to the subject of 
internal improvements, upon a view thus enlarged, it is 
not my design to recommend the equipment of an expe- 
12 



134 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN 

dition for circumnavigating the globe for purposes of 
scientific research and inquiry. We have objects of use- 
ful investigation nearer home, and to which our cares may 
be more beneficially applied. The interior of our own 
territories has yet been very imperfectly explored. Our 
coasts, along many degrees of latitude upon the shores of 
the Pacific Ocean, though much frequented by our spirited 
commercial navigators, have been barely visited by our 
public ships. The river of the west, first fully discovered 
and navigated by a countryman of our own, still bears the 
name of the ship in which he ascended its waters, and 
claims the protection of pur armed national flag at its 
mouth. With the establishment of a military post there, 
or at some other point of that coast, recommended by my 
predecessor, and already matured in the deliberations of 
the last Congress, I would suggest the expediency of con- 
necting the equipment of a public ship for the exploration 
of the whole north-west coast of this continent. 

The establishment of a uniform standard of weights and 
measures was one of the specific objects contemplated in 
the formation of our constitution ; and to fix that standard 
was one of the powers delegated by express terms, in 
that instrument, to Congress. The governments of Great 
Britain and France have scarcely ceased to be occupied 
with inquiries and speculations on the same subject, since 
the existence of our constitution ; and with them it has ex- 
panded into profound, laborious, and expensive researches 
into the figure of the earth, and the comparative length of 
the pendulum vibrating seconds in various latitudes, from 
the equator to the pole. These researches have resulted 
in the composition and publication of several works highly 
interesting to the cause of science. The experiments are 
yet in the process of performance. Some of them have 
recently been made on our own shores, within the walls of 
one of our own colleges, and partly by one of our own fellow- 
citizens. It would be honorable to our country if the 
sequel of the same experiments should be countenanced by 
the patronage of our government, as they have hitherto 
been by those of France and Great Britain. 

Connected with the establishment of a university, or 
separate from it, might be undertaken the erection of an 



J. q,. ADAMSES FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 135 

astronomical observatory, with provision for the support 
of an astronomer, to be in constant attendance of observa- 
tion upon the phenomena of the heavens; and for the 
periodical publication of his observations. It is with no 
feeling of pride, as an American, that the remark may be 
made, that, on the comparatively small territorial surface 
of Europe, there are existing upwards of one hundred and 
thirty of these lighthouses of the skies; while throughout 
the whole American hemisphere there is not one. If we 
reflect a moment upon the discoveries which, in the last 
four centuries, have been made in the physical constitution 
of the universe, by the means of these buildings, and of 
observers stationed in them, shall we doubt of their useful- 
ness to every nation ? And while scarcely a year passes 
over our heads without bringing some new astronomical 
discovery to light, which we must fain receive at second 
hand from Europe, are we not cutting ourselves off from 
the means of returning light for light, while we have 
neither observatory nor observer upon our half of the 
globe, and the earth revolves in perpetual darkness to 
our unsearching eyes? 

When, on the 25th of October, 1791, the first President 
of the United States announced to Congress the result of 
the first enumeration of the inhabitants of this Union, he 
informed them that the returns gave the pleasing assurance 
that the population of the United States bordered on four 
millions of persons. At the distance of thirty years from 
that time, the last enumeration, five years since completed, 
presented a population bordering on ten millions. Perhaps 
of all the evidences of a prosperous and happy condition of 
human society, the rapidity of the increase of population is 
the most unequivocal. But the demonstration of our pros- 
perity rests not alone upon this indication. Our commerce, 
our wealth, and the extent of our territories, have increased 
in corresponding proportions; and the number of inde- 
pendent communities, associated in our federal Union, has, 
since that time, nearly doubled. The legislative represen- 
tation of the states and people, in the two houses of Con- 
gress, has grown with the growth of their constituent 
bodies. The House, which then consisted of sixty-five 
members, now numbers upwards of two hundred. The 



136 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

Senate, which consisted of twenty-six members, has now 
forty-eight. But the executive, and still more the judi- 
ciary departments, are yet in a great measure confined to 
their primitive organization, and are now not adequate to 
the urgent wants of a still growing community. 

The naval armaments, which at an early period forced 
themselves upon the necessities of the Union, soon led to 
the establishment of a department of the navy. But the 
departments of foreign affairs and of the interior, which, 
early after the formation of the government, had been 
united in one, continue so united to this time, to the un- 
questionable detriment of the public service. The multi- 
plication of our relations with the nations and governments 
of the old world, has kept pace with that of our population 
and commerce, while, within the last ten years, a new 
family of nations, in our own hemisphere, has arisen 
among the inhabitants of the earth, with whom our inter- 
course, commercial and political, would, of itself, furnish 
occupation to an active and industrious department. The 
constitution of the judiciary, experimental and imperfect 
as it was, even in the infancy of our existing government, 
is yet more inadequate to the administration of national 
justice at our present maturity. Nine years have elapsed 
since a predecessor in this office, now not the last, the 
citizen who, perhaps, of all others throughout the Union, 
contributed most to the formation and establishment of 
our constitution, in his valedictory address to Congress, 
immediately preceding his retirement from public life, 
urgently recommended the revision of the judiciary, and 
the establishment of an additional executive department. 
The exigencies of the public service, and its unavoidable 
deficiencies, as now in exercise, have added yearly cumu- 
lative weight to the considerations presented by him as 
persuasive to the measure; and in recommending it to 
your deliberations, I am happy to have the influence of his 
high authority in aid of the undoubting convictions of my 
own experience. 

The laws relating to the administration of the Patent 
Office are deserving of much consideration, and perhaps 
susceptible of some improvement. The grant of power to 
regulate the action of Congress on this subject, has speci- 



J. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 137 

fied both the end to be obtained and the means by which it 
is to be effected, "to promote the progress of science and 
the useful arts, by securing, for limited times, to authors and 
inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings 
and discoveries." If an honest pride might be indulged 
in the reflection, that on the records of that office are 
already found inventions, the usefulness of which has 
scarcely been transcended in the annals of human ingenu- 
ity, would not its exultation be allayed by the inquiry, 
whether the laws have effectively insured to the inventors 
the reward destined to them by the constitution — even a 
limited term of exclusive right to their discoveries? 

On the 24th of December, 1799, it was resolved by 
Congress, that a marble monument should be erected by 
the United States, in the capitol, at the city of Washing- 
ton ; that the family of General Washington should be 
requested to permit his body to be deposited under it ; and 
that the monument be so designed as to commemorate the 
great events of his military and political life. In remind- 
ing Congress of this resolution, and that the monument 
contemplated by it remains yet without execution, I shall 
indulge only the remarks, that the works at the capitol are 
approaching to completion ; that the consent of the family, 
desired by the resolution, was requested and obtained ; that 
a monument has been recently erected in this city, over the 
remains of another distinguished patriot of the revolution ; 
and that a spot has been reserved within the walls where 
you are deliberating for the benefit of this and future ages, 
in which the mortal remains may be deposited of him 
whose spirit hovers over you, and listens with delight to 
every act of the representatives of his nation which can 
tend to exalt and adorn his and their country. 

The constitution under which you are assembled, is a 
charter of limited powers. After full and solemn deliber- 
ation upon all or any of the objects which, urged by an 
irresistible sense of my own duty, I have recommended to 
your attention, should you come to the conclusion, that, 
however desirable in themselves, the enactment of laws for 
effecting them would transcend the powers committed to 
you by that venerable instrument which we are all bound 
to support, — let no consideration induce you to assume the 
12* 



138 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

exercise of powers not granted to you by the people. But 
if the power to exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases 
whatsoever, over the District of Columbia ; if the power 
to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to 
pay the debts and provide for the common defence and 
general welfare of the United States ; if the power to reg- 
ulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the 
several states, and with the Indian tribes ; to fix the stand- 
ard of weights and measures; to establish post-offices and 
post-roads ; to declare war ; to raise and support armies ; 
to provide and maintain a navy ; to dispose of and make 
all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory 
or other property belonging to the United States ; and 
to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
carrying these powers into execution ; if these powers, 
and others enumerated in the constitution, may be ef- 
fectually brought into action by laws promoting the im- 
provement of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, 
the cultivation and encouragement of the mechanic and 
of the elegant arts, the advancement of literature, and the 
progress of the sciences, ornamental and profound ; to 
refrain from exercising them for the benefit of the people 
themselves, would be to hide in the earth the talent com- 
mitted to our charge — would be treachery to the most 
sacred of trusts. 

The spirit of improvement is abroad upon the earth. 
It stimulates the hearts, and sharpens the faculties, not of 
our fellow-citizens alone, but of the nations of Europe, 
and of their rulers. While dwelling with pleasing satis- 
faction upon the superior excellence of our political insti- 
tutions, let us not be unmindful that liberty is power; 
that the nation blessed with the largest portion of liberty, 
must, in proportion to its numbers, be the most powerful 
nation upon earth ; and that the tenure of power by man 
is, in the moral purposes of his Creator, upon condition 
that it shall be exercised to ends of beneficence, to 
improve the condition of himself and his fellow-men. 
While foreign nations, less blessed with that freedom 
which is power than ourselves, are advancing with gigan- 
tic strides in the career of public improvement, were we 
to slumber in indolence, or fold up our arms and proclaim 



JACKSON 3 & INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 139 

to the world that we are palsied by the will of our con- 
stituents, — would it not be to cast away the bounties of 
Providence, and doom ourselves to perpetual inferiority? 
In the course of the year now drawing to its close, we 
have beheld, under the auspices and expense of one state 
in our Union, a new university unfolding its portals to 
the sons of science, and holding up the torch of human 
improvement to the eyes tint seek the light. We have 
seen, under the persevering and enlightened enterprise of 
another state, the waters of our western lakes mingle with 
those of the ocean. If undertakings like these have been 
accomplished in the course of a tew years, by the author- 
ity of single members of our confederation, can we, the 
representative authorities of the whole Union, fall behind 
our fellow-servants in the exercise of the trust committed 
to us for the benefit of our common sovereign, by the ac- 
complishment of works important to the whole, and to 
which neither the authority nor the resources of any one 
state can be adequate ? 

Finally, fellow-citizens, I shall await, with cheering 
hope and faithful cooperation, the result of your delibera- 
tions, assured that, without encroaching upon the powers 
reserved to the authorities of the respective states, or to 
the people, you will, with a due sense of your obligations 
to your country, and of the high responsibilities weighing 
upon yourselves, give efficacy to the means committed to 
you for the common good. And may He who searches 
the hearts of the children of men, prosper your exertions 
to secure the blessings of peace and promote the highest 
welfare of our country. 



JACKSON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

March 4, 1829. 
Felloic-Citizens : 

About to undertake the arduous duties that I have been 
appointed to perform, by the choice of a free people, I 
avail myself of this customary and solemn occasion to 



140 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

express the gratitude which their confidence inspires, and 
to acknowledge the accountability which my situation en- 
joins. While the magnitude of their interests convinces 
me that no thanks can be adequate to the honor they have 
conferred, it admonishes me that the best return I can 
make, is the zealous dedication of my humble abilities to 
their service and their good. 

As the instrument of the federal constitution, it will 
devolve upon me, for a stated period, to execute the laws 
of the United States ; to superintend their foreign and 
confederate relations ; to manage their revenue ; to com- 
mand their forces ; and, by communications to the legis- 
lature, to watch over and to promote their interests gen- 
erally. And the principles of action by which I shall 
endeavor to accomplish this circle of duties, it is now 
proper for me briefly to explain. 

In administering the laws of Congress, I shall keep 
steadily in view the limitations as well as the extent of 
the executive power, trusting thereby to discharge the 
functions of my office, without transcending its authority. 
With foreign nations it will be my study to preserve 
peace, and to cultivate friendship on fair and honorable 
terms ; and in the adjustment of any differences that may 
exist or arise, to exhibit the forbearance becoming a power- 
ful nation, rather than the sensibility belonging to a gal- 
lant people. 

In such measures as I may be called on to pursue, in 
regard to the rights of the separate states, I hope to be 
animated by a proper respect for those sovereign mem- 
bers of our Union ; taking care not to confound the pow- 
ers they have reserved to themselves with those they 
have granted to the confederacy. 

The management of the public revenue — that search- 
ing operation of all governments — is among the most 
delicate and important trusts in ours ; and it will, of 
course, demand no inconsiderable share of my official 
solicitude. Under every aspect in which it can be con- 
sidered, it would appear that advantage must result from 
the observance of a strict and faithful economy. This I 
shall aim at the more anxiously, both because it will 
facilitate the extinguishment of the national debt, the 



jaoksons inaugural address. 141 

unnecessary duration of which is incompatible with real 
independence, and because it will counteract that ten- 
dency to public and private profligacy which a profuse 
expenditure of money by the government is but too apt 
to engender. Powerful auxiliaries to the attainment of 
this desirable end are to be found in the regulations pro- 
vided by the wisdom of Congress for the specific appro- 
priation of public money, and the prompt accountability 
of public officers. With regard to a proper selection of 
the subjects of imposts, with a view to revenue, it would 
seem to me that the spirit of equity, caution, and com- 
promise, in which the constitution was formed, requires 
that the great interests of agriculture, commerce, and man- 
ufactures, s .ould be equally favored, and that perhaps the 
only exception to this rule should consist in the peculiar 
encouragement of any products of either of them that may 
be found essential to our national independence. 

Internal improvement and the diffusion of knowledge, 
so far as they cm be promoted by the constitutional acts 
of the federal government, are of high importance. 

Considering standing armies as dangerous to free gov- 
ernments in time of pe ice, I shall not seek to enlarge 
our present establishment, nor t ) disregard that salutary 
lesson of p ditical experience which teaches that the mil- 
itary should be held subordinate to the civil power. The 
gradual increase of our navy, whose flag has displayed, 
in distant climes, our skill in navigation, and our fame in 
arms; the preservation of our forts, arsenals, and dock- 
yards ; and the introduction of progressive improvements 
in the discipline and science of both branches of our mil- 
itary service, are so plainly prescribed by prudence that I 
should be excused for omitting their mention, sooner than 
enlarging on their importance. But the bulwark of our 
defence is the national militia, which, in the present state 
of our intelligence and population, must render us invin- 
cible. As long as our government is administered for the 
good of the people, and is regulated by their will ; as long 
as it secures to us the right of person and property, liberty 
of conscience and of the press, it will be worth defend- 
ing ; and so long as it is worth defending, a patriotic mili- 
tia will cover it with an impenetrable segis. Partial inju- 
ries and occasional mortifications we may be subjected 



142 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

to; but a million of armed freemen, possessed of the 
means of war, can never be conquered by a foreign foe. 
To any just system, therefore, calculated to strengthen 
this natural safeguard of the country, I shall cheerfully 
lend all the aid in my power. 

It will be my sincere and constant desire to observe 
towards the Indian tribes within our limits a just and 
libera] policy ; and to give that humane and considerate 
attention to their rights and their wants, which is con- 
sistent with the habits of our government and the feelings 
of our people. 

The recent demonstration of public sentiment inscribes 
on the list of executive duties, in characters too legible to 
be overlooked, the task of reform ; which will require, par- 
ticularly, the correction of those abuses that have brought 
the patronage of the federal government into conflict with 
the freedom of elections, and the counteraction of those 
causes which have disturbed the rightful course of ap- 
pointment, and have placed or continued power in un- 
faithful or incompetent hands. 

In the performance of a task thus generally delineated, 
I shall endeavor to select men whose diligence and talents 
will insure, in their respective stations, able and faithful 
cooperation — depending, for the advancement of the pub- 
lic service, more on the integrity and zeal of the public 
officers, than on their numbers. 

A diffidence, perhaps too just, in my own qualifica- 
tions, will teach me to look with reverence to the exam- 
ples of public virtue left by my illustrious predecessors, 
and with veneration to the lights that flow from the mind 
that founded and the mind that reformed our system. 
The same diffidence induces me to hope for instruction 
and aid from the coordinate branches of the government, 
and for the indulgence and support of my fellow-citizens 
generally. And a firm reliance on the goodness of that 
Power whose providence mercifully protected our national 
infancy, and has since upheld our liberties in various 
vicissitudes, encourages me to offer up my ardent suppli- 
cations that He will continue to make our beloved country 
the object of His divine care and gracious benediction. 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 143 

JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 

December 8, 1829. 

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate 

and House of Representatives : 

It affords me pleasure to tender my friendly greetings 
to you on the occasion of your assembling at the seat of 
government, to enter upon the important duties to which 
you have been called by the voice of our countrymen. 
The task devolves on me, under a provision of the con- 
stitution, to present to you, as the federal legislature of 
twenty-four sovereign states, and twelve millions of hap- 
py people, a view of our affairs, and to propose such 
measures as, in the discharge of my official functions, 
have suggested themselves as necessary to promote the 
objects of our Union. 

In communicating with you for the first time, it is to 
me a source of unfeigned satisfaction, calling for mutual 
gratulation and devout thanks to a benign Providence, that 
we are at peace with all mankind ; and that our country 
exhibits the most cheering evidence of general welfare and 
progressive improvement. Turning our eyes to other 
nations, our great desire is to see our brethren of the 
human race secured by the blessings enjoyed by ourselves, 
and advancing in knowledge, in freedom, and in social 
happiness. 

Our foreign relations, although in their general charac- 
ter pacific and friendly, present objects of difference be- 
tween us and other powers of deep interest, as well to the 
country at large as to many of our citizens. To effect an 
adjustment of these shall continue to be the object of my 
earnest endeavors ; and, notwithstanding the difficulties of 
the task, I do not allow myself to apprehend unfavorable 
results. Blessed as our country is with every thing which 
constitutes national strength, she is fully adequate to the 
maintenance of all her interests. In discharging the re- 
sponsible trust confided to the executive in this respect, it 
is my settled purpose to ask nothing that is not clearly 
right, and to submit to nothing that is wrong ; and I flatter 



144 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

myself, that, supported by the other branches of the gov» 
eminent, and by the intelligence and patriotism of the 
people, we shall be able, under the protection of Prov- 
idence, to cause all our just rights to be respected. 

Of the unsettled matters between the United States and 
other powers, the most prominent are those which have 
for years been the subject of negotiation with England, 
France, and Spain. The Jate periods at which our min- 
isters to those governments left the United States, render 
it impossible, at this early day, to inform you of what has 
been done on the subjects with which they have been re- 
spectively charged. Relying upon the justice of our views 
in relation to the points committed to negotiation, and the 
reciprocal good feeling which characterizes our intercourse 
with those nations, we have the best reason to hope for a 
satisfactory adjustment of existing differences. 

With Great Britain, alike distinguished in peace and 
war, we may look forward to years of peaceful, honorable, 
and elevated competition. Every thing in the condition 
and history of the two nations is calculated to inspire 
sentiments of mutual respect, and to carry conviction to 
the minds of both, that it is their policy to preserve the 
most cordial relations. Such are my own views ; and it is 
not to be doubted that such are also the prevailing sen- 
timents of our constituents. Although neither time nor 
opportunity has been afforded for a full development of the 
policy which the present cabinet of Great Britain designs 
to pursue towards this country, I indulge the hope that it 
will be of a just and pacific character: ; nd if this anticipa- 
tion be realized, we may look with confidence to a speedy 
and acceptable adjustment of our affairs. 

Under the convention for regulating, by reference to ar- 
bitration, the disputed points of boundary under the fifth 
article of the treaty of Ghent, the proceedings have hitherto 
been conducted in the spirit of candor and liberality which 
ought ever to characterize the acts of sovereign states, 
seeking to adjust, by the most unexceptionable means, 
important and delicate subjects of contention. The first 
statements of the parties have been exchanged, and the 
fin\i replication on our part is in a course of preparation. 
This subject has received the attention demanded by its 



jackson's first annual message. 145 

great and peculiar importance to a patriotic member of 
this confederacy. The exposition of our rights, already 
made, is such as, from the high reputation of the commis- 
sioners by whom it has been prepared, we had a right to 
expect. Our interests at the court of the sovereign who 
has evinced his friendly disposition, by assuming the del- 
icate task of arbitration, have been committed to a citizen 
of the state of Maine, whose character, talents, and inti- 
mate acquaintance with the subject, eminently qualify him 
for so responsible a trust. With full confidence in the 
justice of our cause, and in the probity, intelligence, and 
uncompromising independence of the illustrious arbitrator, 
we can have nothing to apprehend from the result. 

From France, our ancient ally, we have a right to expect 
that justice which becomes the sovereign of a powerful, 
intelligent, and magnanimous people. The beneficial 
effects produced by the commercial convention of 1822, 
limited as are its provisions, are too obvious not to make 
a salutary impression upon the minds of those who 
are charged with the administration of her government. 
Should this result induce a disposition to embrace to their 
full extent the wholesome principles which constitute our 
commercial policy, our minister to that court will be found 
instructed to cherish such a disposition, and to aid in con- 
ducting it to useful practical conclusions. The claims of 
our citizens for depredations upon their property, long 
since committed under the authority, and in many in- 
stances by the express direction, of the then existing gov- 
ernment of France, remain unsatisfied ; and must, there- 
fore, continue to furnish a subject of unpleasant discus- 
sion, and possible collision, between the two governments. 
I cherish, however, a lively hope, founded as well on the 
validity of those claims, and the established policy of all 
enlightened governments, as on the known integrity of the 
French monarch, that the injurious delays of the past will 
find redress in the equity of the future. Our minister has 
been instrukted to press these demands on the French 
government with all the earnestness which is called for by 
their importance and irrefutable justice; and in a spirit 
that will evince the respect which is due to the feelings 
of those from whom the satisfaction is required. 
13 



146 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

Our minister recently appointed to Spain has been 
authorized to assist in removing evils alike injurious to 
both countries, either by concluding a commercial con- 
vention upon liberal and reciprocal terms, or by urging 
the acceptance, in their full extent, of the mutually-bene- 
ficial provisions of our navigation act. He has also been 
instructed to make a further appeal to the justice of Spain, 
in behalf of our citizens, for indemnity for spoliations upon 
our commerce, committed under her authority — an appeal 
which the pacific and liberal course observed on our part, 
and a due confidence in the honor of that government, 
authorize us to expect will not be made in vain. 

With other European powers, our intercourse is on the 
most friendly footing. In Russia, placed, by her territo- 
rial limits, extensive population, and great power, high in 
the rank of nations, the United States have always found 
a steadfast friend. Although her recent invasions of 
Turkey awakened a lively sympathy for those who were 
exposed to the desolations of war, we cannot but anticipate 
that the result will prove favorable to the cause of civil- 
ization, and to the progress of human happiness. The 
treaty of peace between these powers having been ratified, 
we cannot be insensible to the great benefit to be derived 
by the commerce of the United States from unlocking the 
navigation of the Black Sea — a free passage into which is 
secured to all merchant vessels bound to ports of Russia 
under a flag at peace with the Porte. This advantage, 
enjoyed upon conditions, by most of the powers of Eu- 
rope, has hitherto been withheld from us. During the past 
summer, an antecedent but unsuccessful attempt to obtain 
it, was renewed under circumstances which promised the 
most favorable results. Although those results have for- 
tunately been thus in part attained, further facilities to the 
enjoyment of this new field for the enterprise of our cit- 
izens are, in my opinion, sufficiently desirable to insure to 
them our most zealous attention. 

Our trade with Austria, although of secondary impor- 
tance, has been gradually increasing ; and is now so ex- 
tended as to deserve the fostering care of the government. 
A negotiation, commenced and nearly completed with that 
power, by the late administration, has been consummated 



Jackson's first annual message. 147 

by a treaty of amity, navigation, and commerce, which will 
be laid before the Senate. 

During the recess of Congress, our diplomatic relations 
with Portugal have been resumed. The peculiar state of 
things in that country caused a suspension of the recogni- 
tion of the representative who presented himself, until an 
opportunity was had to obtain from our official organ there, 
information regarding the actual, and, as far as practicabla, 
prospective condition of the authority by which the repre- 
sentative in question was appointed. This information 
being received, the application of the established rule of 
our government, in like cases, was no longer withheld. 

Considerable advances have been made, durino- the 
present year, in the adjustment of claims of our citizens 
upon Denmark for spoliations ; but all that we have a right 
to demand from that government in their behalf has not 
yet been conceded. From the liberal footing, however, 
upon which this subject has, with the approbation of the 
claimants, been placed by the government, together with 
the uniformly just and friendly disposition which has been 
evinced by his Danish majesty, there is a reasonable 
ground to hope that this single subject of difference will 
speedily be removed. 

Our relations with the Barbary powers continue, as 
they have long been, of the most favorable character. 
The policy of keeping an adequate force in the Mediter- 
ranean, as security for the continuance of this tranquillity, 
will be persevered in ; as well as a similar one for the pro- 
tection of our commerce and fisheries in the Pacific. 

The southern republics of our hemisphere have not yet 
realized all the advantages for which they have been so 
long struggling. We trust, however, that the day is not 
distant when the restoration of peace and internal quiet, 
under permanent systems of government, securing the 
liberty and promoting the happiness of the citizens, will 
crown with complete success their long and arduous 
efforts in the cause of self-government, and enable us 
to salute them as friendly rivals in all that is truly great 
and glorious. 

The recent invasion of Mexico, and the effect thereby 
produced upon her domestic policy, must have a control- 



148 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

ling influence upon the great question of South American 
emancipation. We have seen the fell spirit of civil dissen- 
sion rebuked, and, perhaps, forever stifled, in that republic, 
by the love of independence. If it be true, as appearances 
strongly indicate, that the spirit of independence is the 
master spirit, and if a corresponding sentiment prevail in 
the other states, this devotion to liberty cannot be without 
a proper effect upon the counsels of the mother country. 
The adoption by Spain of a pacific policy towards her 
former colonies — an event consoling to humanity, and a 
blessing to the world, in which she herself cannot fail 
largely to participate — may be most reasonably expected. 

The claims of our citizens upon the South American 
governments generally, are in a train of settlement, while 
the principal part of those upon Brazil have been adjusted ; 
and a decree in council, ordering bonds to be issued by 
the minister of the treasury for their amount, has received 
the sanction of his imperial majesty. This event, together 
with the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty negoti- 
ated and concluded in 1828, happily terminates all serious 
causes of difference with that power. 

Measures have been taken to place our commercial re- 
lations with Peru upon a better footing than that upon 
which they have hitherto rested ; and if met by a proper 
disposition on the part of that government, important 
benefits may be secured to both countries. 

Deeply interested as we are in the prosperity of our 
sister republics, and more particularly in that of our im- 
mediate neighbor, it would be most gratifying to me were 
I permitted to say, that the treatment which we have re- 
ceived at her hands has been as universally friendly, as 
the early and constant solicitude manifested by the United 
States for her success, gave us a right to expect. But it 
becomes my duty to inform you that prejudices long in- 
dulged by a portion of the inhabitants of Mexico against 
the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the 
United States, have had an unfortunate influence upon the 
affairs of the two countries, and have diminished that use- 
fulness to his own which was justly to be expected from 
his talents and zeal. To this cause, in a great degree, is to 
be imputed the failure of several measures equally interest- 



Jackson's first annual message. 149 

ing to both parties, but particulaily that of the Mexican 
government to ratify a treaty negotiated and concluded 
in its own capital, and under its own eye. Under these 
circumstances, it appeared expedient to give to Mr. Poin= 
sett the option either to return or not, as in his judgment 
the interest of his country might require, and instructions 
to that end were prepared ; but before they could be de- 
spatched, a communication was received from the gov- 
ernment of Mexico, through its charge d'affnres here, 
requesting the recall of our minister. This was promptly 
complied with; and a representative of a rank correspond- 
ing with that of the Mexican diplomatic agent near this 
government was appointed. Our conduct towards that 
republic has been uniformly of the most friendly character ; 
and having thus removed the only alleged obstacle to 
harmonious intercourse, I cannot but hope that an advan- 
tageous change will occur in our affairs. 

In justice to Mr. Poinsett, it is proper to say, that my 
immediate compliance with the application for his recall, 
and the appointment of a successor, are not to be ascribed 
to any evidence that the imputation of an improper inter- 
ference, by him, in the local politics of Mexico, was well 
founded ; nor to a want of confidence in his talents or in- 
tegrity ; and to add, that the truth of that charge h is never 
been affirmed by the federal government of Mexico, in 
their communications with this. 

I consider it one of the most urgent of my duties to 
bring to your attention the propriety of amending that 
part of our constitution which relates to the election of 
President and Vice-President. Our system of government 
was, by its framers, deemed an experiment ; and they, there- 
fore, consistently provided a mode of remedying its defects. 

To the people belongs the right of electing their chief 
magistrate ; it was never designed that their choice should, 
in any case, be defeated, either by the intervention of 
electoral colleges, or by the agency confided, under certain 
contingencies, to the House of Representatives. Experi- 
ence proves, that, in proportion as agents to execute the 
will of the people are multiplied, there is danger of their 
wishes being frustrated. Some may be unfaithful ; all are 
liable to err. So far, therefore, as the people can, with 
13* 



150 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

convenience, speak, it is safer for them to express their 
own will. 

The number of aspirants to the presidency, and the di- 
versity of the interests which may influence their claims, 
leave little reason to expect a choice in the first instance ; 
and, in that event, the election must devolve on the House 
of Representatives, where, it is obvious, the will of the peo- 
ple may not be always ascertained, or, if ascertained, may 
not be regarded. From the mode of voting by states, the 
choice is to be made by twenty-four votes; and it may 
often occur, that one of those will be controlled by an in- 
dividual representative. Honors and offices are at the 
disposal of the successful candidate. Repeated ballotings 
may make it apparent that a single individual holds the 
cast in his hand. May he not be tempted to name his 
reward? But even without corruption — supposing the 
probity of the representative to be proof against the power- 
ful motives by which it may be assailed — the will of the 
people is still constantly liable to be misrepresented. One 
may err from ignorance of the wishes of his constituents ; 
another, from the conviction that it is his duty to be gov- 
erned by his own judgment of the fitness of the candidates ; 
finally, although all were inflexibly honest — all accurately 
informed of the wishes of their constituents — yet, under 
the present mode of election, a minority may often elect 
the President ; and when this happens, it may reasonably 
be expected that efforts will be made on the part of the 
majority to rectify this injurious operation of their institu- 
tions. But although no evils of this character should result 
from such a perversion of the first principle of our system 
— that the majority is to govern — it must be very certain 
that a President elected by a minority cannot enjoy the con- 
fidence necessary to the successful discharge of his duties. 

In this, as in all other matters of public concern, policy 
requires that as few impediments as possible should exist 
to the free operation of the public will. Let us, then, en- 
deavor to so amend our system, that the office of chief 
magistrate may not be conferred upon any citizen but in 
pursuance of a fair expression of the will of the majority. 

I would therefore recommend such an amendment of the 
constitution as may remove all intermediate agency in the 



JACKSON S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 151 

election of the President and Vice-President. The mode 
may be so regulated as to preserve to each state its present 
relative weight in the election; and a failure in the first 
attempt may be provided for by confining the second to a 
choice between the two highest candidates. In connection 
with such an amendment, it would seem advisable to limit 
the service of the chief magistrate to a single term of either 
four or six years. If, however, it should not be adopted, 
it is worthy of consideration whether a provision, disquali- 
fying for office the representatives in Congress on whom 
such an election may have devolved, would not be proper. 

While members of Congress can be constitutionally ap- 
pointed to offices of trust and profit, it will be the practice, 
even under the most conscientious adherence to duty, to 
select them for such stations as they are believed to be 
better qualified to fill than other citizens ; but the purity 
of our government would doubtless be promoted by their 
exclusion from all appointments in the gift of the President, 
in whose election they may have been officially concerned. 
The nature of the judicial office, and the necessity of 
securing in the cabinet, and diplomatic stations of the high- 
est rank, the best talents and political experience, should, 
perhaps, except these from the exclusion. 

There are, perhaps, few men who can for any great 
length of time enjoy office and power, without being more 
or less under the influence of feelings unfavorable to the 
faithful discharge of their public duties. Their integrity 
may be proof against improper considerations immediately 
addressed to themselves ; but they are apt to acquire a hab- 
it of looking with indifference upon the public interests, 
and of tolerating conduct from which an unpractised man 
would revolt. Office is considered as a species of proper- 
ty ; and government rather as a means of promoting in- 
dividual interest, than as an instrument created solely for 
the service of the people. Corruption in some, and in 
others a perversion of correct feelings and principles, divert 
government from its legitimate ends, and make it an engine 
for the support of the few at the expense of the many. 
The duties of all public officers are, or at least admit of 
being, made so plain and simple, that men of intelligence 
may readily qualify themselves for their performance ; and 



152 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

I cannot but believe that more is lost by the long contin- 
uance of men in office than is generally to be gained by 
their experience. I submit, therefore, to your considera- 
tion, whether the efficiency of the government would not be 
promoted, and official industry and integrity better secured, 
by a general extension of the law which limits appoint- 
ments to four years. 

In a country where offices are created solely for the 
benefit of the people, no one man has any more intrinsic 
right to official station than another. Offices were not 
established to give support to particular men at the public 
expense. No individual wrong is therefore done by re- 
moval, since neither appointment to nor continuance in 
office is matter of right. The incumbent became an officer 
with a view to the public benefits ; and when these require 
his removal, they are not to be sacrificed to private inter- 
ests. It is the people, and they alone, who have a right to 
complain when a bad officer is substituted for a good one. 
He who is removed has the same means of obtaining a liv- 
ing that are enjoyed by the millions who never held office. 
The proposed limitation would destroy the idea of prop- 
erty, now so generally connected with official station ; and 
although individual distress may be sometimes produced, 
it would, by promoting that rotation which constitutes a 
leading principle in the republican creed, give healthful 
action to the system. 

No very considerable change has occurred, during the 
recess of Congress, in the condition of either our agricul- 
ture, commerce, or manufactures. The operation of the 
tariff has not proved so injurious to the two former, or as 
beneficial to the latter, as was anticipated. Importations 
of foreign goods have not been sensibly diminished ; while 
domestic competition, under an illusive excitement, has 
increased the production much beyond the demand for 
home consumption. The consequences have been, low 
prices, temporary embarrassment, and partial loss. That 
such of our manufacturing establishments as are based 
upon capital, and are prudently managed, will survive the 
shock, and be ultimately profitable, there is no good reason 
to doubt. 

To regulate its conduct, so as to promote equally the 



JACKSON S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 153 

prosperity of these three cardinal interests, is one of the 
most difficult tasks of government ; and it may be regretted 
that the complicated restrictions which now embarrass the 
intercourse of nations, could not by common consent be 
abolished, and commerce allowed to flow in those chan- 
nels to which individual enterprise, always its surest guide, 
might direct it. But we must ever expect selfish legisla- 
tion in other nations, and are, therefore, compelled to adapt 
our own to their regulations, in the manner best calculated 
to avoid serious injury, and to harmonize the conflicting 
interests of our agriculture, our commerce, and our man- 
ufactures. Under these impressions, I invite your atten- 
tion to the existing tariff, believing that some of its pro- 
visions require modification. 

The general rule to be applied in graduating the duties 
upon the articles of foreign growth or manufacture, is 
that which will place our own in fair competition with 
those of other countries ; and the inducements to advance 
even a step beyond this point, are controlling in regard to 
those articles which are of primary necessity in time of war. 
When we reflect upon the difficulty and delicacy of this 
operation, it is important that it should never be attempted 
but with the utmost caution. Frequent legislation in re- 
gard to any branch of industry, affecting its value, and by 
which its capital may be transferred to new channels, must 
always be productive of hazardous speculation and loss. 

In deliberating, therefore, on these interesting subjects, 
local feelings and prejudices should be merged in the 
patriotic determination to promote the great interests of 
the whole. All the attempts to connect them with the 
party conflicts of the day are necessarily injurious, and 
should be discountenanced. Our action upon them should 
be under the control of higher and purer motives. Legis- 
lation, subjected to such influence, can never be just, 
and will not long retain the sanction of the people, whose 
active patriotism is not bounded by sectional limits, nor 
insensible to that spirit of concession and forbearance 
which gave life to our political compact, and still sustains 
it. Discarding all calculations of political ascendency, 
the north, the south, the east, and the west, should unite 



154 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

in diminishing any burden, of which either may justly 
complain. 

The agricultural interest of our country is so essentially 
connected with every other, and so superior in importance 
to them all, that it is scarcely necessary to invite it to your 
particular attention. It is principally as manufactures and 
commerce tend to increase the value of agricultural pro- 
ductions, and to extend their application to the wants and 
comforts of society, that they deserve the fostering care of 
government. 

Looking forward to the period, not far distant, when a 
sinking fund will no longer be required, the duties on 
those articles of importation which cannot come in com- 
petition with our own productions, are the first that should 
encrao-e the attention of Congress in the modification of the 
tariff. Of these, tea and coffee are the most prominent ; 
they enter largely into the consumption of the country, and 
have become articles of necessity to all classes. A reduc- 
tion, therefore, of the existing duties, will be felt as a com- 
mon benefit; but, like all other legislation connected with 
commerce, to be efficacious, and not injurious, it should 
be gradual and certain. 

The public prosperity is evinced in the increased rev- 
enue arising from the sales of public lands ; and in the 
steady maintenance of that produced by imposts and ton- 
nage, notwithstanding the additional duties imposed by the 
act of 19th of May, 1828, and the unusual importations in 
the early part of that year. 

The balance in the treasury on the 1st January, 1829, 
was $5,972,435 81. The receipts of the current year 
are estimated at $24,602,230 ; and the expenditures for 
the same time at $26,164,595 ; leaving a balance in the 
treasury, on the 1st of January next, of $4,410,070 81. 

There will have been paid on account of the public 
debt during the present year, the sum of $12,405,005 80; 
reducing the whole debt of the government, on the 1st of 
January next, to $48,565,406 50, including seven millions 
of five per cent, stock subscribed to the Bank of the 
United States. The payment on account of the public 
debt, made on the 1st of July last, was $8,715,462 87. It 



Jackson's first annual message, 155 

was apprehended that the sudden withdrawal of so large 
a sum from the banks in which it was deposited, at a time 
of unusual pressure in the money market, might cause 
much injury to the interests dependent on bank accommo- 
dations. But this evil was wholly averted by an early an- 
ticipation of it at the treasury, aided by the judicious 
arrangements of the officers of the Bank of the United 
States. 

The state of the finances exhibits the resources of the 
nation in an aspect highly flattering to its industry, and 
auspicious of the ability of the government, in a very 
short time, to extinguish the public debt. When this shall 
be done, our population will be relieved from a consider- 
able portion of its present burdens ; and will find not only 
new motives to patriotic affection, but additional means 
for the display of individual enterprise. The fiscal power 
of the states will also be increased ; and may be more 
extensively exerted in favor of education and other public 
objects ; while ample means will remain in the federal 
government to promote the general wealth in all the modes 
permitted to its authority. 

After the extinction of the public debt, it is not proba- 
ble that any adjustment of the tariff, upon principles satis- 
factory to the people of the Union, will, until a remote 
period, if ever, leave the government without a consider- 
able surplus in the treasury, beyond what may be required 
for its current service. As, then, the period approaches 
when the application of the revenue to payment of the 
debt will cease, the disposition of the surplus will present 
a subject for the serious deliberation of Congress ; and it 
may be fortunate for the country that it is yet to be deci- 
ded. Considered in connection with the difficulties which 
have heretofore attended appropriations for purposes of 
internal improvement, and with those which this experi- 
ence tells us will certainly arise, whenever power^ over 
such subjects may be exercised by the general government, 
it is hoped that it may lead to the adoption of some plan 
which will reconcile the diversified interests of the states, 
and strengthen the bonds which unite them. Every 
member of the Union, in peace and in war, will be bene- 
fited by the improvement of inland navigation, and the 



156 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

construction of highways in the several states. Let us, 
then, endeavor to attain this benefit in a mode that will be 
satisfactory to all. That hitherto adopted has, by many 
of our fellow-citizens, been deprecated as an infraction of 
the constitution; while by others it has been viewed as in- 
expedient. All feel that it has been employed at the ex- 
pense of harmony in the legislative councils. 

To avoid these evils, it appears to me that the most safe, 
just, and federal disposition which could be made of this 
surplus revenue, would be its apportionment among the 
several states, according to their ratio of representation ; 
and should this measure not be found warranted by the 
constitution, that it would be expedient to propose to the 
states an amendment authorizing it. I regard an appeal to 
the source of power, in all cases of real doubt, and where 
its exercise is deemed advisable to the general welfare, as 
among the most sacred of all our obligations. Upon this 
country, more than any other, has, in the providence of 
God, been cast the special guardianship of the great prin- 
ciple of adherence to written constitutions. If it fail here, 
all hope in regard to it will be extinguished. That this 
was intended to be a government of limited and specific, 
and not general powers, must be admitted by all ; and it is 
our duty to preserve for it the character intended by its 
framers. If experience points out the necessity for an en- 
largement of these powers, let us apply for it to those for 
whose benefit it is to be exercised, and not undermine the 
whole system by a resort to overstrained constructions. 
The scheme has worked well. It has exceeded the hopes 
of those who devised it, and become an object of admira- 
tion to the world. We are responsible to our country, and 
to the glorious cause of self-government, for the preserva- 
tion of so great a good. The great mass of legislation 
relating to our internal affairs, was intended to be left 
where -the federal convention found it — in the state 
governments. Nothing is clearer, in my view, than that 
we are chiefly indebted for the success of the constitution 
under which we are now acting, to the watchful and aux- 
iliary operation of the state authorities. This is not the 
reflection of a day, but belongs to the most deeply-rooted 
convictions of my mind. I cannot, therefore, too strongly 



JACKSOjS's first annual message. 157 

or too earnestly, for my own sense of its importance, warn 
you against all encroachment upon the legitimate sphere 
of state sovereignty. Sustained by its healthful and in- 
vigorating influence, the federal system can never fall. 

In the collection of the revenue, the long credits au- 
thorized on goods imported from beyond the Cape of Good 
Hope are the chief cause of the losses at present sus- 
tained. If these were shortened to six, nine, and twelve 
months, and warehouses provided by government, sufficient 
to receive the goods offered in deposit for security and 
for debenture, and if the right of the United States to a 
priority of payment out of the estates of its insolvent 
debtors was more effectually secured, this evil would in a 
great measure be obviated. An authority to construct 
such houses is, therefore, with the proposed alteration of 
the credits, recommended to your attention. 

It is worthy of notice, that the laws for the collection 
and security of the revenue arising from imposts, were 
chiefly framed when the rates of duties on imported goods 
presented much less temptation for illicit trade than at 
present exists. There is reason to believe that these laws 
are, in some respects, quite insufficient for the proper se- 
curity of the revenue, and the protection of the interests 
of those who are disposed to observe them. The injurious 
and demoralizing tendency of a successful system of smug- 
gling is so obvious as not to require comment, and cannot 
be too carefully guarded against. I therefore suggest to 
Congress the propriety of adopting efficient measures to 
prevent this evil, avoiding, however, as much as possible, 
every unnecessary infringement of individual liberty, and 
embarrassment of fair and lawful business. 

On an examination of the records of the treasury, I 
have been forcibly struck with the large amount of public 
money which appears to be outstanding. Of this sum 
thus due from individuals to the government, a consider- 
able portion is undoubtedly desperate, and, in many in- 
stances, has probably been rendered so by remissness in 
the agents charged with its collection. By proper exer- 
tions, a great part, howeyer, may yet be recovered ; and 
whatever may be the portions respectively belonging to 
these two classes, it behoves the government to ascertain 
14 



158 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

the real state of the fact. This can be done only by the 
prompt adoption of judicious measures for the collection 
of such as may be made available. It is believed that a 
very large amount has been lost through the inadequacy 
of the means provided for the collection of debts due to 
the public ; and that this inadequacy lies chiefly in the 
want of legal skill, habitually and constantly employed in 
the direction of the agents engaged in the service. It 
must, I think, be admitted, that the supervisory power 
over suits brought by the public, which is now vested in 
an accounting officer of the treasury, not selected with a 
view to his legal knowledge, and encumbered as he is with 
numerous other duties, operates unfavorably to the public 
interest. 

It is important that this branch of the public service 
should be subject to the supervision of such professional 
skill as will give it efficacy. The expense attendant 
upon such a modification of the executive department, 
would be justified by the soundest principles of econo- 
my. I would recommend, therefore, that the duties now 
assigned to the agent of the treasury, so far as they 
relate to the superintendence and management of legal 
proceedings on the part of the United States, be trans- 
ferred to the attorney-general ; and that this officer be 
placed on the same footing, in all respects, as the heads of 
the other departments — receiving like compensation, and 
having such subordinate officers provided for his depart- 
ment, as may be requisite for the discharge of these addi- 
tional duties. The professional skill of the attorney- 
general, employed in directing the conduct of marshals 
and district attorneys, would hasten the collection of debts 
now in suit, and hereafter save much to the government. 
It might be further extended to the superintendence of all 
criminal proceedings for offences against the United States. 
In making this transfer, great care should be taken, how- 
ever, that the power necessary to the treasury department 
be not impaired ; one of its greatest securities consisting 
in a control over all accounts until they are audited or 
reported for suit. 

In connection with the foregoing views, I would suggest, 
also, an inquiry, whether the provisions of the act of Con- 



jackson's first annual message. 159 

gress, authorizing the discharge of the persons of debtors 
to the government from imprisonment, may not, consist- 
ently with the public interest, be extended to the release 
of the debt, where the conduct of the debtor is wholly 
exempt from the imputation of fraud. Some more liberal 
policy than that which now prevails in reference to this 
unfortunate class of citizens is certainly due to them, and 
would prove beneficial to the country. The continuance 
of the liability after the means to discharge it have been 
exhausted, can only serve to dispirit the debtor ; or where 
his resources are but partial, the want of power in the 
government to compromise and release the demand, insti- 
gates to fraud, as the only resource for securing a support 
to his family. He thus sinks into a state of apathy, or 
becomes a useless drone in society, or a vicious member 
of it, if not a feeling witness of the rigor and inhumanity 
of his country. All experience proves that an oppressive 
debt is the bane of enterprise ; and it should be the care 
of a republic not to exert a grinding power over misfortune 
and poverty. 

Since the last session of Congress, numerous frauds on 
the treasury have been discovered, which I thought it my 
duty to bring under the cognizance of the United States 
Court, for this district, by a criminal prosecution. It was 
my opinion, and that of able counsel who were consulted, 
that the cases came within the penalties of the act of the 
17th Congress, approved 3d March, 1823, providing for 
the punishment of frauds committed on the government 
of the United States. Either from some defect in the law 
or in its administration, every effort to bring the accused 
to trial under its provisions proved ineffectual, and the 
government was driven to the necessity of resorting to the 
vague and inadequate provisions of the common law. It is 
therefore my duty to call your attention to the laws which 
have been passed for the protection of the treasury. If, 
indeed, there is no provision by which those who may be 
unworthily intrusted with its guardianship, can be punished 
for the most flagrant violation of duty, extending even to 
the most fraudulent appropriation of the public funds to 
their own use, it is time to remedy so dangerous an omis- 
sion. Or, if the law has been perverted from its original 



160 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

purposes, and criminals deserving to be punished under 
its provisions, have been rescued by legal subtilties, it 
ought to be made so plain, by amendatory provisions, as 
to baffle the arts of perversion, and accomplish the ends 
of its original enactment. 

In one of the most flagrant cases, the court decided 
that the prosecution was barred by the statute which limits 
prosecutions for fraud to two years. In this case, all the 
evidences of the fraud, and indeed all knowledge that a 
fraud had been committed, were in the possession of the 
party accused, until after the two years had elapsed. 
Surely the statute ought not to run in favor of any man 
while he retains all the evidences of his crime in his own 
possession ; and least of all, in favor of a public officer 
who continues to defraud the treasury, and conceal the 
transaction for the brief term of two years. I would 
therefore recommend such an alteration of the law as will 
give the injured party and the government two years after 
the disclosure of the fraud, or after the accused is out of 
office, to commence their prosecution. 

In connection with this subject, I invite the attention of 
Congress to a general and minute inquiry into the condition 
of the government, with a view to ascertain what offices 
can be dispensed with, what expenses retrenched, and 
what improvements may be made in the organization of its 
various parts to secure the proper responsibility of public 
agents, and promote efficiency and justice in all its op- 
erations. 

The report of the Secretary of War will make you 
acquainted with the condition of our army, fortifications, 
arsenals, and Indian affairs. The proper discipline of the 
army, the training and equipment of the militia, the edu- 
cation bestowed at West Point, and the accumulation of 
the means of defence, applicable to the naval force, will 
tend to prolong the peace we now enjoy, and which every 
good citizen, more especially those who have felt the mis- 
eries of even a successful warfare, must ardently desire to 
perpetuate. 

The returns from the subordinate branches of this ser- 
vice exhibit a regularity and order highly creditable to its 
character : both officers and soldiers seem imbued with a 



JACKSON'S 1'IKST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 161 

proper sense of duty, and conform to the restraints of 
exact discipline with that cheerfulness which becomes the 
profession of arms. There is need, however, of further 
legislation to obviate the inconveniences specified in the 
report under consideration; to some of which it is proper 
that I should call your particular attention. 

The act of Congress of the 2d March, 1821, to reduce 
and fix the military establishment, remaining unexecuted 
as it regards the command of one of the regiments of 
artillery, cannot now be deemed a guide to the executive 
in making the proper appointment. An explanatory act, 
designating the class of officers out of which this grade is 
to be filled, — whether from the military list, as existing 
prior to the act of 1821, or from it, as it has been fixed 
by that act, — would remove this difficulty. It is also 
important that the laws regulating the pay and emoluments 
of the officers generally, should be more specific than 
they now are. Those, for example, in relation to the 
paymaster and surgeon-general, assign to them an annual 
salary of $2,590; but are silent as to allowances which, 
in certain exigencies of the service, may be deemed in- 
dispensable to the discharge of their duties. This circum- 
stance has been the authority for extending to them various 
allowances at different times under former administrations; 
but no uniform rule has been observed on the subject. 
Similar inconveniences exist in other cases, in which the 
construction put upon the laws by the public accountants 
may operate unequally, produce confusion, and expose 
officers to the odium of claiming what is not their due. 

I recommend to your fostering care, as one of our 
safest means of national defence, the Military Academy. 
This institution has already exercised the happiest influ- 
ence upon the moral and intellectual character of our 
army ; and such of the graduates as, from various causes, 
may not pursue the profession of arms, will be scarcely 
less useful as citizens. Their knowledge of the military 
art will be advantageously employed in the militia ser- 
vice, and in a measure secure to that class of troops 
the advantages which in this respect belong to standing 
armies. 

I would also suggest a review of the pension law, for 
14* 



162 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

the purpose of extending its benefits to every revolutionary 
soldier who aided in establishing our liberties, and who is 
unable to maintain himself in comfort. Those relics of 
the war of independence have strong claims upon their 
country's gratitude and bounty. The law is defective in 
not embracing within its provisions all those who were 
during the last war disabled from supporting themselves 
by manual labor. Such an amendment would add but 
little to the amount of pensions, and is called for by the 
sympathies of the people, as well as by considerations of 
sound policy. It will be perceived that a large addition to 
the list of pensioners has been occasioned by an order of 
the late administration, departing materially from the rules 
which had previously prevailed. Considering it an act of 
legislation, I suspended its operation as soon as I was in- 
formed that it had commenced. Before this period, how- 
ever, applications under the new regulation had been 
preferred, to the number of one hundred and fifty-four ; of 
which, on the 27th March, the date of its revocation, 
eighty-seven were admitted. For the amount there was 
neither estimate nor appropriation ; and besides this de- 
ficiency, the regular allowances, according to the rules 
which have heretofore governed the department, exceed 
the estimate of its late secretary by about fifty thousand 
dollars, for which an appropriation is asked. 

Your particular attention is requested to that part of the 
report of the Secretary of War which relates to the money 
held in trust for the Seneca tribe of Indians. It will be 
perceived that, without legislative aid, the executive can- 
not obviate the embarrassments occasioned by the dim- 
inution of the dividends on that fund, which originally 
amounted to $100,000, and has recently been invested in 
the United States three per cent, stock. 

The condition and ulterior destiny of the Indian tribes 
within the limits of some of our states, have become ob- 
jects of much interest and importance. It has long been 
the policy of government to introduce among them the 
arts of civilization, in the hope of gradually reclaiming 
them from a wandering life. This policy has, however, 
been coupled with another wholly incompatible with its 
success. Professing a desire to civilize and settle them, 



Jackson's first annual message. 16o 

we have at the same time lost no opportunity to purchase 
their lands, and thrust them farther into the wilderness. 
By this means, they have not only been kept in a wander- 
ing state, but been led to look upon us as unjust and in- 
different to their fate. Thus, though lavish in expenditures 
upon the subject, government has constantly defeated its 
own policy ; and the Indians, in general, receding farther 
and farther to the west, have retained their savage habits. 
A portion, however, of the southern tribes, having mingled 
much with the whites, and made some progress in the arts 
of civilized life, have lately attempted to erect an inde- 
pendent government within the limits of Georgia and Ala- 
bama. These states, claiming to be the only sovereigns 
within their territories, extended their laws over the In- 
dians ; which induced the latter to call upon the United 
States for protection. 

Under these circumstances, the question presented was, 
whether the general government had a right to sustain 
those people in their pretensions. The constitution de- 
clares, that " no new state shall be formed or erected 
within the jurisdiction of any other state," without the 
consent of its legislature. If the general government is 
not permitted to tolerate the erection of a confederate 
state within the territory of one of the members of this 
Union, against her consent, much less could it allow a 
foreign and independent government to establish itself 
there. Georgia became a member of the confederacy 
which eventuated in our federal union, as a sovereign 
state, always asserting her claim to certain limits ; which 
having been originally defined in her colonial charter, and 
subsequently recognized in the treaty of peace, she has 
ever since continued to enjoy, except as they have been 
circumscribed by her own voluntary transfer of a portion 
of her territory to the United States, in the articles of 
cession of 1802. Alabama was admitted into the Union 
on the same footing with the original states, with boun- 
daries which were prescribed by Congress. There is no 
constitutional, conventional, or legal provision, which al- 
I \vs them less power over the Indians within their bor- 
ders, than is possessed by Maine or New York. Would 
the people of Maine permit the Penobscot tribe to erect 



164 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

an independent government within their state ? and unless 
they did, would it not be the duty of the general govern- 
ment to support them in resisting such a measure ? Would 
the people of New York permit each remnant of the Six 
Nations within her borders, to declare itself an independ- 
ent people under the protection of the United States? 
Could the Indians establish a separate republic in each of 
their reservations in Ohio? and if they were so disposed, 
would it be the duty of this government to protect them 
in the attempt ? If the principle involved in the obvious 
answer to these questions be abandoned, it will follow that 
the objects of this government are reversed, and that it 
has become a part of its duty to aid in destroying the states 
which it was established to protect. 

Actuated by this view of the subject, I informed the 
Indians inhabiting parts of Georgia and Alabama, that 
their attempt to establish an independent government would 
not be countenanced by the executive of the United States, 
and advised them to emigrate beyond the Mississippi, or 
submit to the laws of those states. 

Our conduct towards these people is deeply interesting 
to our national character. Their present condition, con- 
trasted with what they once were, makes a most powerful 
appeal to our sympathies. Our ancestors found them the 
uncontrolled possessors of these vast regions. By per- 
suasion and force they have been made to retire from 
river to river, and from mountain to mountain, until some 
of the tribes have become extinct, and others have left but 
remnants, to preserve, for a while, their once terrible 
names. Surrounded by the whites, with their arts of civ- 
ilization, which, by destroying the resources of the savage, 
doom him to weakness and decay, the fate of the Mohe- 
gan, the Narraganset, and the Delaware, is fast overtaking 
the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the Creek. That this 
fate surely awaits them if they remain within the limits 
of the states, does not admit of a doubt. Humanity and 
national honor demand that every effort should be made 
to avert so great a calamity. It is too late to inquire 
whether it was just in the United States to include them 
and their territory within the bounds of new states whose 
limits they could control. That step cannot be retraced. 



jackson's first annual message. 165 

A state cannot be dismembered by Congress, or restricted 
in the exercise of her constitutional power. But the peo- 
ple of those states, and of every state, actuated by feelings 
of justice and a regard for our national honor, submit to 
you the interesting question, whether something cannot be 
done, consistently with the rights of the states, to preserve 
this much injured race. 

As a means of effecting this end, I suggest for your 
consideration the propriety of setting apart an ample dis- 
trict west of the Mississippi, and without the limits of 
any state or territory now formed, to be guarantied to the 
Indian tribes, as long as they shall occupy it ; each tribe 
having a distinct control over the portion designated for 
its use. There they may be secured in the enjoyment of 
governments of their own choice, subject to no other con- 
trol from the United States than such as may be necessary 
to preserve peace on the frontier, and between the several 
tribes. There the benevolent may endeavor to teach them 
the arts of civilization; and, by promoting union and har- 
mony among them, to raise up an interesting common- 
wealth, destined to perpetuate the race, and to attest the 
humanity and justice of this government. 

This emigration should be voluntary, for it would be 
as cruel as unjust to compel the aborigines to abandon 
the graves of their fathers, and seek a home in a distant 
land. But they should be distinctly informed that, if 
they remain within the limits of the states, they must be 
subject to their laws. In return for their obedience as 
individuals, they will, without doubt, be protected in the 
enjoyment of those possessions which they have improved 
by their industry. But it seems to me visionary to sup- 
pose, that, in this state of things, claims can be allowed 
on tracts of country on which they have neither dwelt 
nor made improvements, merely because they have seen 
them from the mountain, or passed them in the chase. 
Submitting to the laws of the states, and receiving, like 
other citizens, protection in their persons and property, 
they will ere long become merged in the mass of our 
population. 

The accompanying report of the Secretary of the Navy 
will make you acquainted with the condition and useful 



166 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

employment of that branch of our service during the pres- 
ent year. Constituting, as it does, the best standing se- 
curity of this country against foreign aggression, it claims 
the especial attention of government. In this spirit, the 
measures which, since the termination of the last war, 
have been in operation for its gradual enlargement, were 
adopted, and it should continue to be cherished as the 
offspring of our national experience. It will be seen, how- 
ever, that, notwithstanding the great solicitude which has 
been manifested for the perfect organization of this arm, 
and the liberality of the appropriations which that solici- 
tude has suggested, this object has, in many important 
respects, not been secured. 

In time of peace we have need of no more ships of war 
than are requisite to the protection of our commerce. 
Those not wanted for this object, must lie in the har- 
bors, where, without proper covering, they rapidly decay ; 
and, even under the best precautions for their preserva- 
tion, must soon become useless. Such is already the 
case with many of our finest vessels ; which, though un- 
finished, will now require immense sums of money to be 
restored to the condition in which they were when com- 
mitted to their proper element. On this subject there 
can be little doubt that our best policy would be to discon- 
tinue the building of the first and second class, and look 
rather to the possession of ample materials, prepared for 
the emergencies of war, than to the number of vessels 
which we can float in a season of peace, as an index of 
our naval power. Judicious deposits in the navy-yards, 
of timber and other materials, fashioned under the hands 
of skilful workmen, and fitted for prompt application to 
their various purposes, would enable us, at all times, to 
construct vessels as fast as they can be manned ; and 
save the heavy expense of repairs, except to such vessels 
as must be employed in guarding our commerce. The 
proper points for the establishment of these yards are 
indicated with so much force in the report of the Navy 
Board, that, in recommending it to your attention, I deem 
it unnecessary to do more than express my hearty concur- 
rence in their views. The yard in this district, being 
already furnished with most of the machinery necessary 



Jackson's first annual message. 167 

for ship-building', will be competent to the supply of the 
two selected by the board as the best for the concentra- 
tion of materials; and from the facility and certainty of 
communication between them, it will be useless to incur, 
at those depots, the expense of similar machinery, espe- 
cially that used in preparing the usual metallic and wooden 
furniture of vessels. 

Another improvement would be effected by dispensing 
altogether with the Navy Board, as now constituted, and 
substituting in its stead bureaus similar to those already 
existing in the War Department. Each member of the 
board, transferred to the head of a separate bureau charged 
with specific duties, would feel, in its highest degree, that 
wholesome responsibility which cannot be divided without 
a far more proportionate diminution of its force. Their 
valuable services would become still more so when sepa- 
lately appropriated to distinct portions of the great inter- 
ests of the navy ; to the prosperity of which each would 
be impelled to devote himself by the strongest motives. 
Under such an arrangement, every branch of this im- 
portant service would assume a more simple and precise 
character; its efficiency would be increased, and scru- 
pulous economy in the expenditure of public money pro- 
moted. 

I would also recommend that the marine corps be 
merged in the artillery or infantry, as the best mode of 
curing the many defects of its organization. But little 
exceeding in number any of the regiments of infantry, 
that corps has, besides its lieutenant-colonel commandant, 
five brevet lieutenant-colonels, who receive the full pay 
and emoluments of their brevet rank, without rendering 
proportionate service. Details for marine service could as 
well be made from the artillery or infantry — there being 
no peculiar training requisite for it. 

With these improvements, and such others as zealous 
watchfulness and mature consideration may suggest, there 
can be little doubt that, under an energetic administration 
of its affairs, the navy may soon be made every thing that 
the nation wishes it to be. Its efficiency in the suppres- 
sion of piracy in the West India seas, and wherever its 
squadrons have been employed in securing the interests 



168 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

of the country, will appear from the report of the secre- 
tary, to which I refer you for other interesting details. 
Among these I would bespeak the attention of Congress 
for the views presented in relation to the inequality be- 
tween the army and navy as to the pay of officers. No 
such inequality should prevail between these brave defend- 
ers of their country ; and where it does exist, it is submitted 
to Congress whether it ought not to be rectified. 

The report of the Postmaster-general is referred to as 
exhibiting a highly satisfactory administration of that de- 
partment. Abuses have been reformed ; increased expe- 
dition in the transportation of the mail secured ; and its 
revenue much improved. In a political point of view, 
this department is chiefly important as affording the means 
of diffusing knowledge. It is to the body politic what the 
veins and arteries are to the natural — conveying rapidly 
and regularly, to the remotest parts of the system, correct 
information of the operations of the government, and 
bringing back to it the wishes and feelings of the people. 
Through its agency, we have secured to ourselves the full 
enjoyment of the blessings of a free press. 

In this general survey of our affairs, a subject of high 
importance presents itself in the present organization of 
the judiciary. A uniform operation of the federal govern- 
ment in the different states is certainly desirable ; and 
existing, as they do in the Union, on the basis of perfect 
equality, each state has a right to expect that the benefits 
conferred on the citizens of others should be extended to 
hers. The judicial system of the United States exists in 
all its efficiency in only fifteen members of the Union ; to 
three others, the circuit courts, which constitute an im- 
portant part of that system, have been imperfectly extend- 
ed; and to the remaining six, altogether denied. The 
effect has been to withhold from the inhabitants of 
the latter the advantages afforded (by the supreme 
court) to their fellow-citizens in other states, in the 
whole extent of the criminal, and much of the civil 
authority of the federal judiciary. That this state of 
things ought to be remedied, if it can be done consistently 
with the public welfare, is not to be doubted ; neither is 
it to be disguised that the organization of our judicial 



jackson's first annual message. 169 

system is at once a difficult and delicate task. To extend 
the circuit courts equally throughout the different parts 
of the Union, and, at the same time, to avoid such a mul- 
tiplication of members as would encumber the supreme 
appellate tribunal, is the object desired. Perhaps it might 
be accomplished by dividing the circuit judges into two 
classes, and providing that the supreme court should be 
held by those classes alternately — the chief justice always 
presiding. 

If an extension of the circuit court system to those 
states which do not now enjoy its benefits should be de- 
termined upon, it would of course be necessary to revise 
the present arrangements of the circuits; and even if that 
system should not be enlarged, such a revision is recom- 
mended. 

A provision for taking the census of the people of the 
United States will, to insure the completion of that work 
within a convenient time, claim the early attention of 
Congress. 

The great and constant increase of business in the De- 
partment of State forced itself, at an early period, upon 
the attention of the executive. Thirteen years ago, it was, 
in Mr. Madison's last message to Congress, made the sub- 
ject of an earnest recommendation, which has been re- 
peated by both of his successors ; and my comparatively 
limited experience has satisfied me of its justness. It has 
arisen from many causes, not the least of which is, the 
large addition which has been made to the family of 
independent nations, and the proportionate extension of 
our foreign relations. The remedy proposed was the es- 
tablishment of a Home Department — a measure which 
does not appear to have met the views of Congress, on 
account of its supposed tendency to increase gradually, 
and imperceptibly, the already too strong bias of the fed- 
eral system towards the exercise of authority not delegated 
to it. I am not, therefore, disposed to revive the recom- 
mendation ; but am not the less impressed with the impor- 
tance of so organizing that department, that its secretary 
mav devote more of his time to our foreign relations. 
Clearly satisfied that the public good would be promoted 
15 



170 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

by some suitable provision on the subject, I respectfully 
invite your attention to it. 

The charter of the Bank of the United States expires 
in 1836, and its stockholders will most probably apply for 
a renewal of their privileges. In order to avoid the evils 
resulting from precipitancy in a measure involving such 
important principles, and such deep pecuniary interests, 
I feel that I cannot, in justice to the parties interested, 
too soon present it to the deliberate consideration of the 
legislature and the people. Both the constitutionality and 
the expediency of the law creating this bank are well 
questioned by a large portion of our fellow-citizens ; and 
it must be admitted by all, that it has failed in the great 
end of establishing a uniform and sound currency. 

Under these circumstances, if such an institution is 
deemed essential to the fiscal operations of the govern- 
ment, I submit to the wisdom of the legislature whether 
a national one, founded upon the credit of the government 
and its revenues, might not be devised, which would avoid 
all constitutional difficulties, and, at the same time, secure 
all the advantages to the government and country that were 
expected to result from the present bank. 

I cannot close this communication without bringing to 
your view the just claim of the representatives of Com- 
modore Decatur, his officers and crew, arising from the 
recapture of the frigate Philadelphia, under the heavy 
batteries of Tripoli. Although sensible, as a general rule, 
of the impropriety of executive interference under a gov- 
ernment like ours, where every individual enjoys the right 
of directly petitioning Congress, yet, viewing this case as 
one of very peculiar character, I deem it my duty to rec- 
ommend it to your favorable consideration. Besides the 
justice of this claim, as corresponding to those which have 
been since recognized and satisfied, it is the fruit of a 
deed of patriotic and chivalrous daring, which infused life 
and confidence into our infant navy, and contributed, as 
much as any exploit in its history, to elevate our national 
character. Public gratitude, therefore, stamps her seal 
upon it ; and the meed should not be withheld which 
may hereafter operate as a stimulus to our gallant tars. 



JACKSON S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 171 

I now commend yon, fellow-citizens, to the guidance 
of Almighty God, with a full reliance on his merciful 
Providence for the maintenance of our free institutions ; 
and with an earnest supplication, that whatever errors it 
may be my lot to commit, in discharging the arduous 
duties which have devolved on me, will find a remedy in 
the harmony and wisdom of your counsels. 



JACKSON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 

Fellow-Citizens : 

Being about to retire finally from public life, I beg leave 
to offer you my grateful thanks for the many proofs of 
kindness and confidence which I have received at your 
hands. It has been my fortune, in the discharge of public 
duties, civil and military, frequently to have found myself 
in difficult and trying situations, where prompt decision 
and energetic action were necessary, and where the in- 
terests of the country required that high responsibilities 
should be fearlessly encountered ; and it is with the deep- 
est emotions of gratitude that I acknowledge the continued 
and unbroken confidence with which you have sustained 
me in every trial. My public life has been a long one, and 
I cannot hope that it has at all times been free from errors. 
But I have the consolation of knowing that, if mistakes 
have been committed, they have not seriously injured the 
country I so anxiously endeavored to serve; and at the 
moment when I surrender my last public trust, I leave this 
great people prosperous and happy ; in the full enjoyment 
of liberty and peace, and honored and respected by every 
nation of the world. 

If my humble efforts have, in any degree, contributed 
to preserve to you these blessings, I have been more than 
rewarded by the honor you have heaped upon me ; and, 
above all, by the generous confidence with which you have 
supported me in every peril, and with which you have 
continued to animate and cheer my path to the closing 
hour of my political life. The time has now come, when 



172 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

advanced age and a broken frame warn me to retire from 
public concerns ; but the recollection of the many favors 
you have bestowed upon me is engraven upon my heart, 
and I have felt that I could not part from your service 
without making this public acknowledgment of the grati- 
tude I owe you. And if I use the occasion to offer to you 
the counsels of age and experience, you will, I trust, re- 
ceive them with the same indulgent kindness which you 
have so often extended to me ; and will, at least, see in 
them an earnest desire to perpetuate, in this favored land, 
the blessings of liberty and equal laws. 

We have now lived almost fifty years under the consti- 
tution framed by the sages and patriots of the revolution. 
The conflicts in which the nations of Europe were en- 
gaged during a great part of this period, the spirit in 
which they waged war with each other, and our intimate 
commercial connections with every part of the civilized 
world, rendered it a time of much difficulty for the gov- 
ernment of the United States. We have had our seasons 
of peace and of war, with all the evils which precede or 
follow a state of hostility with powerful nations. We en- 
countered these trials with our constitution yet in its in- 
fancy, and under the disadvantages which a new and 
untried government must always feel when it is called to 
put forth its whole strength, without the lights of experi- 
ence to guide it, or the weight of precedent to justify its 
measures. But we have passed triumphantly through all 
these difficulties. Our constitution is no longer a doubt* 
ful experiment ; and at the end of nearly half a century, 
we find that it has preserved unimpaired the liberties of 
the people, secured the rights of property, and that our 
country has improved, and is flourishing beyond any for- 
mer example in the history of nations. 

In our domestic concerns, there is every thing to en- 
courage us; and if you are true to yourselves, nothing 
can impede your march to the highest point of national 
prosperity. The states which had so long been retarded 
in their improvement, by the Indian tribes residing in the 
midst of them, are at length relieved from the evil ; and 
this unhappy race — the original dwellers in our land — 
are now placed in a situation where we may well hope 



JACKSON^ FAREWELL ADDKE3S, 173 

that they will share in the blessings of civilization, and be 
saved from that degradation and destruction to which they 
were rapidly hastening while they remained in the states ; 
and while the safety and comfort of our own citizens have 
been greatly promoted by their removal, the philanthropist 
will rejoice that the remnant of that ill-fated race has been 
at length placed beyond the reach of injury or oppression, 
and that the paternal care of the general government will 
hereafter watch over them and protect them. 

If we turn to our relations with foreign powers, we find 
our condition equally gratifying. Actuated by the sincere 
desire to do justice to every nation, and to preserve the 
blessing of peace, our intercourse with them has been 
conducted, on the part of this government, in the spirit of 
frankness, and I take pleasure in saying that it has gener- 
ally been met in a corresponding temper. Difficulties of 
old standing have been surmounted by friendly discussion 
and the mutual desire to be just ; and the claims of our 
citizens, which had been long withheld, have at length 
been acknowledged and adjusted, and satisfactory arrange- 
ments made for their final payment; and with a limited, 
and, I trust, a temporary exception, our relations with every 
foreign power are now of the most friendly character, our 
commerce continually expanding, and our flag respected in 
every quarter of the world. 

These cheering and grateful prospects, and these multi- 
plied favors, we owe, under Providence, to the adoption of 
the federal constitution. It is no longer a question whether 
this great country can remain happily united, and flourish 
under our present form of government. Experience, the 
unerring test of all human undertakings, has shown the 
wisdom and foresight of those who framed it, and has 
proved, that in the union of these states there is a sure 
foundation for the brightest hopes of freedom, and for the 
happiness of the people. At every hazard, and by every 
sacrifice, this union must be preserved. 

The necessity of watching with jealous anxiety for the 
preservation of the union, was earnestly pressed upon his 
fellow-citizens by the father of his country, in his farewell 
address. He has there told us, that " while experience 
shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will 
15* 



174 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who, in 
any quarter, may endeavor to weaken its bonds; " and he 
has cautioned us in the strongest terms against the forma- 
tion of parties, on geographical discriminations, as one of 
the means which might disturb our union, and to which 
designing men would be likely to resort. 

The lessons contained in this invaluable legacy of 
Washington to his countrymen, should be cherished in the 
heart of every citizen to the latest generation ; and, perhaps, 
at no period of time could they be more usefully remem- 
bered than at the present moment. For when we look 
upon the scenes that are passing around us, and dwell 
upon the pages of his parting address, his paternal counsels 
would seem to be not merely the offspring of wisdom and 
foresight, but the voice of prophecy foretelling events, and 
warning us of the evil to come. Forty years have passed 
since that imperishable document was given to his country- 
men. The federal constitution was then regarded by him 
as an experiment, and he so speaks of it in his address ; 
but an experiment upon the success of which the best 
hopes of his country depended, and we all know that he 
was prepared to lay down his life, if necessary, to secure 
to it a full and fair trial. The trial has been made. It 
has succeeded beyond the proudest hopes of those who 
framed it. Every quarter of this widely-extended nation 
has felt its blessings, and shared in the general prosperity 
produced by its adoption. But amid this general prosperity 
and splendid success, the dangers of which he warned us 
are becoming every day more evident, and the signs of evil 
are sufficiently apparent to awaken the deepest anxiety in 
the bosom of the patriot. We behold systematic efforts 
publicly made to sow the seeds of discord between different 
parts of the United States, and to place party divisions 
directly upon geographical distinctions ; to excite the south 
against the north, and the north against the south, and to 
force into the controversy the most delicate and exciting 
topics, upon which it is impossible that a large portion of 
the Union can ever speak without strong emotions. Ap- 
peals, too, are constantly made to sectional interests, in order 
to influence the election of the chief magistrate, as if it 
were desired that he should favor a particular quarter of the 



Jackson's farewell address. 175 

country, instead of fulfilling the duties of his station with 
impartial justice to all ; and the possible dissolution of the 
Union has at length become an ordinary and familiar sub- 
ject of discussion. Has the warning voice of Washington 
been forgotten ? or h ive designs already been formed to 
sever the Union? Let it not be supposed that I impute to 
all of those who have taken an active part in these unwise 
and unprofitable discussions a want of patriotism or of 
public virtue. The honorable feeling of state pride and 
local attachments find a place in the bosoms of the most 
enlightened and pure. But while such men are conscious 
of their own integrity and honesty of purpose, they ought 
never to forget that the citizens of other states are their 
political brethren; and that, however mistaken they may 
be in their views, the great body of them are equally honest 
and upright with themselves. Mutual suspicions and re- 
proaches may in time create mutual hostility, and artful 
and designing men will always be found, who are ready to 
foment these fatal divisions, and to inflame the natural 
jealousies of different sections of the country. The his- 
tory of the world is full of such examples, and especially 
the history of republics. 

What have you to gain by division and dissension ? 
Delude not yourselves with the belief that a breach once 
made may be afterwards repaired. If the Union is once 
severed, the line of separation will grow wider and wider, 
and the controversies which are now debated and settled 
in the halls of legislation, will then be tried in fields of 
battle, and be determined by the sword. Neither should 
you deceive yourselves with the hope, that the first line of 
separation would be the permanent one, and that nothing 
but harmony and concord would be found in the new 
associations, formed upon the dissolution of this Union. 
Local interests would still be found there, and unchastened 
ambition. And if the recollection of common dangers, in 
which the people of these United States stood side by side 
against the common foe ; the memory of victories won by 
their united valor ; the prosperity and happiness they have 
enjoyed under the present constitution ; the proud name 
they bear as citizens of this great republic; — if these rec- 
ollections and proofs of common interest are not strong 



176 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

enough to bind us together as one people, what tie will 
hold this Union dissevered ? The first line of separation 
would not last for a single generation ; new fragments 
would be torn off; new leaders would spring up ; and this 
great and glorious republic would soon be broken into a 
multitude of petty states ; armed for mutual aggressions ; 
loaded with taxes to pay armies and leaders ; seeking aid 
against each other from foreign powers ; insulted and 
trampled upon by the nations of Europe, until, harassed 
with conflicts, and humbled and debased in spirit, they 
would be ready to submit to the absolute dominion of any 
military adventurer, and to surrender their liberty for the 
sake of repose. It is impossible to look on the conse- 
quences that would inevitably follow the destruction of 
this government, and not feel indignant when we hear 
cold calculations about the value of the Union, and have 
so constantly before us a line of conduct so well calculated 
to weaken its ties. 

There is too much at stake to allow pride or passion to 
influence your decision. Never for a moment believe that 
the great body of the citizens of any state or states can de- 
liberately intend to do wrong. They may, under the in- 
fluence of temporary excitement or misguided opinions, 
commit mistakes ; they may be misled for a time by the 
suggestions of self-interest; but in a community so en- 
lightened and patriotic as the people of the United States, 
argument will soon make them sensible of their errors ; 
and, when convinced, they will be ready to repair them. 
If they have no higher or better motives to govern them, 
they will at least perceive that their own interest requires 
them to be just to others as they hope to receive justice at 
their hands. 

But in order to maintain the Union unimpaired, it is ab- 
solutely necessary that the laws passed by the constituted 
authorities should be faithfully executed in every part 
of the country, and that every good citizen should, at all 
times, stand ready to put down, with the combined force 
of the nation, every attempt at unlawful resistance, under 
whatever pretext it may be made, or whatever shape it may 
assume. Unconstitutional or oppressive laws may, no doubt, 
be passed by Congress, either from erroneous views or the 



JACKSON S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 177 

want of due consideration ; if they are within reach of 
judicial authority, the remedy is easy and peaceful ; and if, 
from the character of the law, it is an abuse of power not 
within the control of the judiciary, then free discussion 
and calm appeals to reason and to the justice of the people, 
will not fail to redress the wrong. But until the law shall 
be declared void by the courts, or repealed by Congress, 
no individual or combination of individuals can be justified 
m forcibly resisting its execution. It is impossible that 
any government can continue to exist upon any other prin- 
ciples. It would cease to be a government, and be un- 
worthy of the name, if it had not the power to enforce the 
execution of its own laws within its own sphere of action. 

It is true that cases may be imagined disclosing such a 
settled purpose of usurpation and oppression, on the part 
of the government, as would justify an appeal to arms. 
These, however, are extreme cases, which we have no 
reason to apprehend in a government where the power is 
in the hands of a patriotic people; and no citizen who 
loves his country, would in any case whatever resort to 
forcible resistance, unless he clearly saw that the time hid 
come when a freeman should prefer death to submission ; 
for if such a struggle is once begun, and the citizens of 
one section of the country arrayed in ;»rms against those 
of another, in doubtful conflict, let the battle result as it 
may, there will be an end of the Union, and with it an end 
of the hopes of freedom. The victory of the injured would 
not secure to them the blessings of liberty ; it would 
avenge their wrongs, but they would themselves share in 
the common ruin. 

But the constitution cannot be maintained, nor the Union 
preserved, in opposition to public feeling, by the mere ex- 
ertion of the coercive powers confided to the general gov- 
ernment. The foundations must be laid in the affections 
of the people ; in the security it gives to life, liberty, char- 
acter, and property, in every quarter of the country, and in 
the fraternal attachments which the citizens of the several 
states bear to one another, as members of one political 
family, mutually contributing to promote the happiness 
of each other. Hence the citizens of every state should 
studiously avoid every thing calculated to wound the sen- 



i78 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

sibility or offend the just pride of the people of other states; 
and they should frown upon any proceedings within their 
own borders likely to disturb the tranquillity of their polit- 
ical brethren in other portions of the Union, In a country 
so extensive as the United States, and with pursuits so 
varied, the internal regulations of the several states must 
frequently differ from one another in important particulars; 
and this difference is unavoidably increased by the varying 
principles upon which the American colonies were origin- 
ally planted — principles which had taken deep root in their 
social relations before the revolution, and therefore, of ne- 
cessity, influencing their policy since they became free and 
independent states. But each state has the unquestionable 
right to regulate its own internal concerns according to 
its own pleasure ; and while it does not interfere with the 
rio-hts of the people of other states, or the rights of the 
Union, every state must be the sole judge of that measure 
proper to secure the safety of its citizens and promote 
their happiness; and all efforts on the part of the people 
of other states to cast odium upon their institutions, and 
all measures calculated to disturb their rights of property, 
or to put in jeopardy their peace and internal tranquillity, 
are in direct opposition to the spirit in which the Union 
was formed, and must endanger its safety. Motives of 
philanthropy may be assigned for this unwarrantable inter- 
ference ; and weak men may persuade themselves for a 
moment that they are laboring in the cause of humanity, 
and asserting the rights of the human race ; but every one, 
upon sober reflection, will see that nothing but mischief 
can come from these improper assaults upon the feelings 
and rights of others. Rest assured, that the men found 
busy in this work of discord are not worthy of your con- 
fidence, and deserve your strongest reprobation. 

In the legislation of Congress, also, and in every meas- 
ure of the general government, justice to every portion of 
the United States should be faithfully observed. No free 
government can stand without virtue in the people, and a 
lofty spirit of patriotism ; and if the sordid feelings of mere 
selfishness shall usurp the place which ought to be filled by 
public spirit, the legislation of Congress will soon be con- 
verted into a scramble for personal and sectional advan- 



jackson's farewell address. 179 

tages. Under our free institutions, the citizens in every 
quarter of our country are capable of attaining a high de- 
gree of prosperity and happiness, without seeking to profit 
themselves at the expense of others ; and every such attempt 
must in the end fail to succeed, for the people in every part 
of the United States are too enlightened not to understand 
their own rights and interests, and to detect and defeat 
every effort to gain undue advantages over them ; and when 
such designs are discovered, it naturally provokes resent- 
ments which cannot be always allayed. Justice, full and 
ample justice, to every portion of the United States, should 
be the ruling principle of every freeman, and should guide 
the deliberations of every public body, whether it be state 
or national. 

It is well known that there have always been those 
among us who wish to enlarge the powers of the general 
government ; and experience would seem to indicate that 
there is a tendency on the part of this government to 
overstep the boundaries marked out for it by the consti- 
tution. Its legitimate authority is abundantly sufficient 
for all the purposes for which it is created ; and its pow- 
ers being expressly enumerated, there can be no justifi- 
cation for claiming any thing beyond them. Every at- 
tempt to exercise power beyond these limits should be 
promptly and firmly opposed. For one evil example will 
lead to other measures still more mischievous; and if the 
principle of constructive powers, or supposed advantages, 
or temporary circumstances, shall ever be permitted to 
justify the assumption of a power not given by the consti- 
tution, the general government will before long absorb all 
the powers of legislation, and you will have, in effect, but 
one consolidated government. From the extent of our 
country, its diversified interests, different pursuits, and 
different habits, it is too obvious for argument that a sin- 
gle consolidated government would be wholly inadequate 
to watch over and protect its interests ; and every friend 
of our free institutions should be always prepared to main- 
tain unimpaired and in full vigor the rights and sover- 
eignty of the states, and to confine the action of the gen- 
eral government, strictly to the sphere of its appropriate 
duties. 



180 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

There is, perhaps, no one of the powers conferred on 
the federal government so liable to abuse as the taxing 
power. The most productive and convenient sources of 
revenue were necessarily given to it, that it might per- 
form the important duties imposed upon it ; and the taxes 
which it lays upon commerce being concealed from the 
real payer in the price of the article, they do not so read- 
ily attract the attention of the people as smaller sums 
demanded from them directly by the tax-gatherer. But 
the tax imposed on goods enhances by so much the price 
of the commodity to the consumer ; and as many of these 
duties are imposed on articles of necessity which are daily 
used by the great body of the people, the money raised 
by these imposts is drawn from their pockets. Congress 
has no right, under the constitution, to take money from 
the people, unless it is required to execute some one of 
the specific powers intrusted to the government ; and if 
they raise more th m is necessary for such purposes, it is 
an abuse of the power of taxation, and unjust and op- 
pressive. It may, indeed, happen that the revenue will 
sometimes exceed the amount anticipated when the taxes 
were laid. When, however, this is ascertained, it is easy 
to reduce them ; and, in such a case, it is unquestionably 
the duty of the government to reduce them, for no circum- 
stances can justify it in assuming a power not given to it 
by the constitution, nor in taking away the money of the 
people when it is not needed for the legitimate wants of 
the government. 

Plain as these principles appear to be, you will find that 
there is a constant effort to induce the general government 
to go beyond the limits of its taxing power, and to impose 
unnecessary burdens upon the people. Many powerful 
interests are continually at work to procure heavy duties 
on commerce, and to swell the revenue beyond the real 
necessities of the public service; and the country has 
already felt the injurious effects of their combined in- 
fluence. They succeeded in obtaining a tariff of duties 
bearing most oppressively on the agricultural and labor- 
ing classes of society, and producing a revenue that could 
not be usefully employed within the range of the powers 
conferred upon Congress ; and, in order to fasten upon 



ADDRESS. 181 

the people this unjust and unequal system of taxation, 
extravagant schemes of internal improvement were got up, 
in various quarters, to squander the money and to pur- 
chase support. Thus one unconstitutional measure was 
intended to be upheld by another, and the abuse of the 
power of taxation was to be maintained by usurping the 
power of expending the money in internal improvements. 
You cannot have forgotten the severe and doubtful strug- 
gle through which we passed, when the executive depart- 
ment of the government, by its veto, endeavored to arrest 
this prodigal scheme of injustice, and to bring back the 
legislation of Congress to the boundaries prescribed by the 
constitution. The good sense and practical judgment of 
the people, when the subject was brought before them, 
sustained the course of the executive ; and this plan of 
unconstitutional expenditure for the purposes of corrupt 
influence is, I trust, finally overthrown. 

The result of this decision has been felt in the rapid 
extinguishment of the public debt, and the large accumu- 
lation of a surplus in the treasury, notwithstanding the 
tariff was reduced, and is now far below the amount 
originally contemplated by its advocates. But, rely upon 
it, the design to collect an extravagant revenue, and to 
burden you with taxes beyond the economical wants of the 
government, is not yet abandoned. The various interests 
which have combined together to impose a heavy tariff, 
and to produce an overflowing treasury, are too strong, 
and have too much at stake, to surrender the contest. 
The corporations and wealthy individuals who are engaged 
in large manufacturing establishments, desire a high tariff 
to increase their gains. Designing politicians will sup- 
port it to conciliate their favor, and to obtain the means 
of profuse expenditure, for the purpose of purchasing in- 
fluence in other quarters ; and since the people have de- 
cided that the federal government cannot be permitted to 
employ its income in internal improvements, efforts will 
be made to seduce and mislead the citizens of the several 
states by holding out to them the deceitful prospect of 
benefits to be derived from a surplus revenue collected by 
the general government, and annually divided among the 
states. And if, encouraged by these fallacious hopes, the 
16 



182 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



states should disregard the principles of economy which 
ought to characterize every republican government, and 
should indulge in lavish expenditures exceeding their re- 
sources, they will, before long, find themselves oppressed 
with debts which they are unable to pay, and the temp- 
tation will become irresistible to support a high tariff, in 
order to obtain a surplus distribution. Do not allow your- 
selves, my fellow-citizens, to be misled on this subject. 
The federal government cannot collect a surplus for such 
purposes, without violating the principles of the consti- 
tution, and assuming powers which have not been granted. 
It is, moreover, a system of injustice, and, if persisted in, 
will inevitably lead to corruption, and must end in ruin. 
The surplus revenue will be drawn from the pockets of 
the people — from the farmer, the mechanic, and the 
laboring classes of society; but who will receive it when 
distributed among the states, where it is to be disposed of 
by leading politicians who have friends to favor, and po- 
litical partisans to gratify 1 It will certainly not be re- 
turned to those who paid it, and who have most need of 
it, and are honestly entitled to it. There is but one safe 
rule, and that is to confine the general government rigidly 
within the sphere of its appropriate duties. It has no power 
to raise a revenue, or impose taxes, except for the pur- 
poses enumerated in the constitution ; and if its income is 
found to exceed these wants, it should be forthwith re- 
duced, and the burdens of the people so far lightened. 

In reviewing the conflicts which have taken place be- 
tween different interests in the United States, and the 
policy pursued since the adoption of our present form of 
government, we find nothing that has produced such deep- 
seated evil as the course of legislation in relation to the 
currency. The constitution of the United States un- 
questionably intended to secure the people a circulating 
medium of gold and silver. But the establishment of a 
national bank by Congress, with the privilege of issuing 
paper money receivable in the payment of the public dues, 
and the unfortunate course of legislation in the several 
states upon the same subject, drove from general circu- 
lation the constitutional currency, and substituted one of 
paper in its place. 



Jackson's farewell address. 183 

It was not easy for men engaged in the ordinary pursuits 
of business, whose attention had not been particularly 
drawn to the subject, to foresee all the consequences of 
a currency exclusively of paper ; and we ought not, on 
that account, to be surprised at the facility with which 
laws were obtained to carry into effect the paper system. 
Honest, and even enlightened men are sometimes misled 
by the specious and plausible statements of the designing. 
But experience has now proved the mischiefs and dangers 
of a paper currency, and it rests with you to determine 
whether the proper remedy shall be applied. 

The paper system being founded on public confidence, 
and having of itself no intrinsic value, it is liable to great 
and sudden fluctuations, thereby rendering property in- 
secure, and the wages of labor unsteady and uncertain. 
The corporations which create the paper money cannot be 
relied upon to keep the circulating medium uniform in 
amount. In times of prosperity, when confidence is high, 
they are tempted, by the prospect of gain, or by the influ- 
ence of those who hope to profit by it, to extend their 
issues of paper beyond the bounds of discretion and the 
reasonable demands of business. And when these issues 
have been pushed on, from day to day, until public con- 
fidence is at length shaken, then a reaction takes place, 
and they immediately withdraw the credits they have given, 
suddenly curtail their issues, and produce an unexpected 
and ruinous contraction of the circulating medium, which 
is felt by the whole community. The banks, by this 
means, save themselves, and the mischievous consequences 
of their imprudence or cupidity are visited upon the pub- 
lic. Nor does the evil stop here. These ebbs and flows 
in the currency, and these indiscreet extensions of credit, 
naturally engender a spirit of speculation injurious to the 
habits and character of the people. We have already seen 
its effects in the wild spirit of speculation in the public 
lands, and various kinds of stock, which, within the last 
year or two, seized upon such a multitude of our citizens, 
and threatened to pervade all classes of society, and to 
withdraw their attention from the sober pursuits of honest 
industry. It is not by encouraging this spirit that we shall 



184 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

best preserve public virtue, and promote the true interests 
of our country. But if your currency continues as ex- 
clusively paper as it now is, it will foster this eager desire 
to amass wealth without labor ; it will multiply the num- 
ber of dependants on bank accommodations and bank 
favors ; the temptation to obtain money at any sacrifice 
will become stronger and stronger, and inevitably lead to 
corruption, which will find its way into your public coun- 
cils, and destroy, at no distant day, the purity of your gov- 
ernment. Some of the evils which arise from this system 
of paper, press with peculiar hardship upon the class of 
society least able to bear it. A portion of this currency 
frequently becomes depreciated or worthless, and all of it 
is easily counterfeited, in such a manner as to require pe- 
culiar skill and much experience to distinguish the coun- 
terfeit from the genuine notes. 

These frauds are most generally perpetrated in the 
smaller notes, which are used in the daily transactions of 
ordinary business ; and the losses occasioned by them are 
commonly thrown upon the laboring classes of society, 
whose situation and pursuits put it out of their power to 
guard themselves from these impositions, and whose daily- 
wages are necessary for their subsistence. It is the duty 
of every government so to regulate its currency, as to pro- 
tect this numerous class, as far as practicable, from the im- 
positions of avarice and fraud. It is more especially the 
duty of the United States, where the government is em- 
phatically the government of the people, and where this 
respectable portion of our citizens are so proudly distin- 
guished from the laboring classes of all other nations, by 
their independent spirit, their love of liberty, their intelli- 
gence, and their high tone of moral character. Their 
industry in peace is the source of our wealth ; and their 
bravery in war has covered us with glory; and the gov- 
ernment of the United States will but ill discharge its 
duties, if it leaves them a prey to such dishonest imposi- 
tions. Yet it is evident that their interests cannot be 
effectually protected, unless silver and gold are restored to 
circulation. 

These views alone, of the paper currency, are sufficient 



jackson's farewell address. 185 

to call for immediate reform ; but there is another con- 
sideration which should still more strongly press it upon 
your attention. 

Recent events have proved that the paper money sys- 
tem of this country may be used as an engine to under- 
mine your free institutions ; and that those who desire to 
engross all power in the hands of the few, and to govern 
by corruption or force, are aware of its power, and pre- 
pared to employ it. Your banks now furnish your only 
circulating medium, and money is plenty or scarce accord- 
ing to the quantity of notes issued by them. While they 
have capitals not greatly disproportioned to each other, 
they are competitors in business, and no one of them can 
exercise dominion over the rest; and although, in the 
present state of the currency,- these banks may and do 
operate injuriously upon the habits of business, the pe- 
cuniary concerns, and the moral tone of society, yet, from 
their number and dispersed situation, they cannot combine 
for the purposes of political influence ; and whatever may 
be the dispositions of some of them, their power of mis- 
chief must necessarily be confined to a narrow space, and 
felt only in their immediate neighborhood. 

But when the charter for the Bank of the United States 
was obtained from Congress, it perfected the schemes of 
the paper system, and gave its advocates the position they 
have struggled to obtain, from the commencement of the 
federal government down to the present hour. The im- 
mense capital, the peculiar privileges bestowed upon it, 
enabled it to exercise despotic sway over the other banks 
in every part of the country. From its superior strength, 
it could seriously injure, if not destroy, the business of any 
one of them which might incur its resentment ; and it 
openly claimed for itself the power of regulating the cur- 
rency throughout the United States. In other words, it 
asserted (and undoubtedly possessed) the power to make 
money plenty or scarce, at its pleasure, at any time, and in 
any quarter of the Union, by controlling the issues of other 
banks, and permitting an expansion, or compelling a gen- 
eral contraction, of the circulating medium, according to 
its own will. The other banking institutions were sensi- 
ble of its strength, and they soon generally became its 
16* 



186 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

obedient instruments, ready, at all times, to execute its 
mandates ; and with the banks necessarily went also that 
numerous class of persons in our commercial cities, who 
depend altogether on bank credits for their solvency and 
means of business; and who are, therefore, obliged, for 
their own safety, to propitiate the favor of the money 
power by distinguished zeal and devotion in its service. 
The result of the ill-advised legislation which established 
this great monopoly was to concentrate the whole moneyed 
power of the Union, with its boundless means of corrup- 
tion, and its numerous dependants, under the direction and 
command of one acknowledged head ; thus organizing this 
particular interest as one body, and securing to it unity 
and concert of action throughout the United States, and 
enabling it to bring forward, upon any occasion, its entire 
and undivided strength to support or defeat any measure 
of the government. In the hands of this formidable 
power, thus perfectly organized, was also placed unlimited 
dominion over the amount of the circulating medium, 
giving it the power to regulate the value of property and 
the fruits of labor in every quarter of the Union; and to 
bestow prosperity, or bring ruin, upon any city or section 
of the country, as might best comport with its own inter- 
est or policy. 

We are not left to conjecture how the moneyed power, 
thus organized, and with such a weapon in its hands, 
would be likely to use it. The distress and alarm which 
pervaded and agitated the whole country, when the Bank 
of the United States waged war upon the people, in order 
to compel them to submit to its demands, cannot yet 
be forgotten. The ruthless and unsparing temper with 
which whole cities and communities were oppressed, in- 
dividuals impoverished and ruined, and a scene of cheer- 
ful prosperity suddenly changed into one of gloom and de- 
spondency, ought to be indelibly impressed on the memory 
of the people of the United States. If such was its power 
in a time of peace, what would it not have been in a sea- 
son of war, with an enemy at your doors ? No nation but 
the freemen of the United States could have come out victo- 
rious from such a contest; yet, if you had not conquered, the 
government would have passed from the hands of the many 



.tackson's farewell address. 187 

to the hands of the few ; and this organized money power, 
from its secret conclave, would have dictated the choice 
of your highest officers, and compelled you to make peace 
or war, as best suited their own wishes. The forms of 
your government might, for a time, have remained ; but its 
living spirit would hive departed from it. 

The distress and sufferings inflicted on the people by 
the bank, are some of the fruits of that system of policy 
which is continually striving to enlarge the authority of 
the federal government beyond the limits fixed by the 
constitution. The powers enumerated in that instrument 
do not confer on Congress the right to establish such a 
corporation as the Bank of the United States; and the evil 
consequences which followed may warn us of the danger 
of departing from the true rule of construction, and of 
permitting temporary circumstances, or the hope of better 
promoting the public welfare, to influence, in any degree, 
our decisions upon the extent of the authority of the gen- 
eral government. Let us abide by the constitution as it 
is written, or amend it in the constitutional mode if it is 
found defective. 

The severe lessons of experience will, I doubt not, be 
sufficient to prevent Congress from again chartering such 
a monopoly, even if the constitution did not present an 
insuperable objection to it. But you must remember, my 
fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the 
price of liberty ; and that you must pay the price if you 
wish to secure the blessing. It behoves you, therefore, to 
be watchful in your states, as well as in the federal govern- 
ment. The power which the moneyed interest can exer- 
cise, when concentrated under a single head and with our 
present system of currency, was sufficiently demonstrated 
in the struggle made by the United States Bank. Defeat- 
ed in the general government, the same class of intriguers 
and politicians will now resort to the states, and endeavor 
to obtain there the same organization, which they failed 
to perpetuate in the Union ; and with specious and de- 
ceitful plans of public advantages, and state interests, and^ 
state pride, they will endeavor to establish, in the different 
states, one moneyed institution with overgrown capital, 
and exclusive- privileges sufficient to enable it to control 



188 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

the operations of other banks. Such an institution will 
be pregnant with the same evils produced by the Bank 
of the United States, although its sphere of action is 
more confined ; and in the state in which it is chartered, 
the money power will be able to imbody its whole strength, 
and to move together with undivided force to accomplish 
any object it may wish to attain. You have already had 
abundant evidence of its powers to inflict injury upon the 
agricultural, mechanical, and laboring classes of society; 
and over those whose engagements in trade or specula- 
tion render them dependent on bank facilities, the do- 
minion of the state monopoly will be absolute, and their 
obedience unlimited. With such a bank and a paper 
currency, the money power would in a few years govern 
the state and control its measures ; and if a sufficient 
number of states can be induced to create such establish- 
ments, the time will soon come when it will again take 
the field against the United States, and succeed in per- 
fecting and perpetuating its organization by a charter 
from Congress. 

It is one of the serious evils of our present system of 
banking, that it enables one class of society — and that by 
no means a numerous one — by its control over the cur- 
rency, to act injuriously upon the interests of all the 
others, and to exercise more than its just proportion of 
influence in political affairs. The agricultural, the me- 
chanical, and the laboring classes, have little or no share 
in the direction of the great moneyed corporations ; and 
from their habits and the nature of their pursuits, they 
are incapable of forming extensive combinations to act 
together with united force. Such concert of action may 
sometimes be produced in a single city, or in a small dis- 
trict of country, by means of personal communications 
with each other ; but they have no regular or active cor- 
respondence with those who are engaged in similar pur- 
suits in distant places ; they have but little patronage to 
give to the press, and exercise but a small share of influ- 
ence over it ; they have no crowd of dependants about 
them, who hope to grow rich without labor, by their coun- 
tenance and favor, and who are, therefore, always ready to 
execute their wishes. The planter, the farmer, the me- 



189 

chanic, and the laborer, all know that their success depends 
upon their own industry and economy, and that they must 
not expect to become suddenly rich by the fruits of their 
toil. Yet these classes form the great body of the people 
of the United States ; they are the bone and sinew of the 
country ; men who love liberty, and desire nothing but 
equal rights and equal laws, and who, moreover, hold the 
great mass of our national wealth, although it is distributed 
in moderate amounts among the millions of freemen who 
possess it. But, with overwhelming numbers and wealth 
on their side, they are in constant danger of losing their 
fair influence in the government, and with difficulty main- 
tain their just rights against the incessant efforts daily 
made to encroach upon them. 

The mischief springs from the power which the mon- 
eyed interest derives from a paper currency, which they 
are able to control, from the multitude of corporations 
with exclusive privileges, which they have succeeded in 
obtaining in the different states, and which are employed 
altogether for their benefit ; and unless you become more 
watchful in your states, and check this spirit of monopo- 
ly, and thirst for exclusive privileges, you will, in the end, 
find that the most important powers of government have 
been given or bartered away, and the control over your 
dearest interests has passed into the hands of these cor- 
porations. 

The paper-moneyed system, and its natural associates, 
monopoly and exclusive privileges, have already struck 
their roots deep in the soil, and it will require all your 
efforts to check its further growth, and to eradicate the 
evil. The men who profit by the abuses, and desire to 
perpetuate them, will continue to besiege the halls of 
legislation in the general government as well as in the 
states, and will seek, by every artifice, to mislead and de- 
ceive the public servants. It is to yourselves that you 
must look for safety and the means of guarding and per- 
petuating your free institutions. In your hands is right- 
fully placed the sovereignty of the country, and to you 
every one placed in authority is ultimately responsible. 
It is always in your power to see that the wishes of the 
people are carried into faithful execution, and their will, 



190 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

when once made known, must, sooner or later, be obeyed. 
And while the people remain, as I trust they ever will, 
uncorrupted and incorruptible, and continue watchful and 
jealous of their rights, the government is safe, and the 
cause of freedom will continue to triumph over all its 
enemies. 

But it will require steady and persevering exertions on 
your part to rid yourselves of the iniquities and mischiefs 
of the paper system, and to check the spirit of monopoly 
and other abuses which have sprung up with it, and of 
which it is the main support. So many interests are uni- 
ted to resist all reform on this subject,' that you must not 
hope the conflict will be a short one, nor success easy. 
My humble efforts have not been spared, during my ad- 
ministration of the government, to restore the constitu- 
tional currency of gold and silver; and something, I trust, 
has been done towards the accomplishment of this most 
desirable object. But enough yet remains to require all 
your energy and perseverance. The power, however, is 
in your hands, and the remedy must and will be applied 
if you determine upon it. 

While I am thus endeavoring to press upon your atten- 
tion the principles which I deem of vital importance to 
the domestic concerns of the country, I ought not to pass 
over without notice the important considerations which 
should govern your policy towards foreign powers. It is 
unquestionably our true interest to cultivate the most 
friendly understanding with every nation, and to avoid, 
by every honorable means, the calamities of war ; and we 
shall best attain that object by frankness and sincerity in 
our foreign intercourse, by the prompt and faithful execu- 
tion of treaties, and by justice and impartiality in our 
conduct to all. But no nation, however desirous of peace, 
can hope to escape collisions with other powers ; and the 
soundest dictates of policy require that we should place 
ourselves in a condition to assert our rights, if a resort to 
force should ever become necessary. Our local situation, 
our long line of sea-coast, indented by numerous bays, 
with deep rivers opening into the interior, as well as her 
extended and still increasing commerce, point to the navy 
as our natural means of defence. It will, in the end, be 



jackson's farewell address. 191 

found to be the cheapest and most effectual ; and now is 
the time, in a season of peace, and with an overflowing 
revenue, that we can, year after year, add to its strength, 
without increasing the burdens of the people. It is your 
true policy. For your navy will not only protect your 
rich and flourishing commerce in distant seas, but enable 
you to reach and annoy the enemy, and will give to de- 
fence its greatest efficiency, by meeting danger at a dis- 
tance from home. It is impossible, by any line of fortifi- 
cations, to guard every point from attack against a hostile 
force advancing from the ocean, and selecting its object ; 
but they are indispensable to prevent cities from bombard- 
ment ; dock-yards and navy arsenals from destruction ; 
to give shelter to merchant vessels in time of war, and to 
single ships of weaker squadrons when pressed by supe- 
rior force. Fortifications of this description cannot be too 
soon completed and armed, and placed in a condition of 
the most perfect preparation. The abundant means we 
now possess cannot be applied in any manner more useful 
to the country ; and when this is done, and our naval force 
sufficiently strengthened, and our military armed, we 
need not fear that any nation will wantonly insult us, or 
needlessly provoke hostilities. We shall more certainly 
preserve peace, when it is well understood that we are 
prepared for war. 

In presenting to you, my fellow-citizens, these parting 
counsels, I have brought before you the leading principles 
upon which I endeavored to administer the government 
in the high office with which you twice honored me. 
Knowing that the path of freedom is continually beset by 
enemies, who often assume, the disguise of friends, I have 
devoted the last hours of my public life to warn you of the 
dangers. The progress of the United States, under our 
free and happy institutions, has surpassed the most san- 
guine hopes of the founders of the republic. Our growth 
has been rapid beyond all former example, in numbers, in 
wealth, in knowledge, and all the useful arts which con- 
tribute to the comforts and convenience of man ; and 
from the earliest ages of history to the present day, there 
never have been thirteen millions of people associated 
together in one political body, who enjoyed so much free- 



192 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

uom and happiness as the people of these United States. 
You have no longer any cause to fear danger from abroad; 
your strength and power are well known throughout the 
civilized world, as well as the high and gallant bearing of 
your sons. It is from within, among yourselves, from 
cupidity, from corruption, from disappointed ambition, 
and inordinate thirst for power, that factions will be 
formed and liberty endangered. It is against such de- 
signs, whatever disguise the actors may assume, that you 
have especially to guard yourselves. You have the highest 
of human trusts committed to your care. Providence has 
showered on this favored land blessings without number, 
and has chosen you, as the guardians of freedom, to pre- 
serve it for the benefit of the human race. May He, who 
holds in his hands the destinies of nations, make you wor- 
thy of the favors he has bestowed, and enable you, with 
pure hearts, and pure hands, and sleepless vigilance, to 
guard and defend to the end of time the great charge he 
has committed to your keeping. 

My own race is nearly run ; advanced age and failing 
health warn me that before long I must pass beyond the 
reach of human events, and cease to feel the vicissitudes 
of human affairs. I thank God that my life has been 
spent in a land of liberty, and that he has given me a 
heart to love my country with the affection of a son. 
And filled with gratitude for your constant and un- 
wavering kindness, I bid you a last and affectionate 
farewell. 



VAN BUREN'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

March 4, 1837. 

Fellow-Citizens : 

The practice of all my predecessors imposes on me an 
obligation I cheerfully fulfil, to accompany the first and 
solemn act of my public trust with an avowal of the prin- 
ciples that will guide me in performing it, and an ex- 
pression of my feelings on assuming a charge so respon- 



VAN BUREN's INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 193 

sible and vast. In imitating their example, I tread in the 
footsteps of illustrious men, whose superiors it is our hap- 
piness to believe are not found on the executive calendar 
of any country. Among them we recognize the earliest 
and firmest pillars of the republic: those by whom our 
national independence was first declared; him who, above 
all others, contributed to establish it on the field of battle; 
and those whose expanded intellect and patriotism con- 
structed, improved, and perfected the inestimable insti- 
tutions under which we live. If such men, in the position 
I now occupy, felt themselves overwhelmed by a sense of 
gratitude for this, the highest of all marks of their coun- 
try's confidence, and by a consciousness of their inability 
adequately to discharge the duties of an office so difficult 
and exalted, how much more must these considerations 
affect one who can rely on no such claim for favor or 
forbearance! Unlike all who have preceded me, the revo- 
lution that gave us existence as one people, was achieved 
at the period of my birth ; and whilst I contemplate, with 
grateful reverence, that memorable event, I feel that I 
belong to a later age, and that I may not expect my 
countrymen to weigh my actions with the same kind and 
partial hand. 

So sensibly, fellow-citizens, do these circumstances 
press themselves upon me, that I should not dare to enter 
upon my path of duty, did I not look for the generous aid 
of those who will be associated with me in the various 
and coordinate branches of the government ; did I not 
repose with unwavering reliance on the patriotism, the 
intelligence, and the kindness of a people who never yet 
deserted a public servant honestly laboring in their cause; 
and, above all, did I not permit myself humbly to hope for 
the sustaining support of an ever-watchful and beneficent 
Providence. 

To the confidence and consolation derived from these 
sources, it would be ungrateful not to add those which 
spring from our present fortunate condition. Though not 
altogether exempt from embarrassments that disturb our 
tranquillity at home and threaten it abroad, yet in all the 
attributes of a great, happy, and flourishing people, we 
stand without a parallel in the world. Abroad, we enjoy 
17 



194 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

the respect, and, with scarcely an exception, the friend- 
ship of every nation ; at home, while our government 
quietly, but efficiently, performs the sole legitimate end of 
political institutions, in doing the greatest good to the 
greatest number, we present an aggregate of human pros- 
perity surely not elsewhere to be found. 

How imperious, then, is the obligation imposed upon 
every citizen, in his own sphere of action, whether limited 
or extended, to exert himself in perpetuating a condition 
of things so singularly happy ! All the lessons of history 
and experience must be lost upon us, if we are content to 
trust alone to the peculiar advantages we happen to pos- 
sess. Position and climate, and the bounteous resources 
that nature has scattered with so liberal a hand, — even 
the diffused intelligence and elevated character of our 
people, — will avail us nothing, if we fail sacredly to up- 
hold those political institutions that were wisely and delib- 
erately formed, with reference to every circumstance that 
could preserve or might endanger the blessings we enjoy. 
The thoughtful framers of our constitution legislated for 
our country as they found it. Looking upon it with the 
eyes of statesmen and of patriots, they saw all the sources 
of rapid and wonderful prosperity; but they saw, also, that 
various habits, opinions, and institutions, peculiar to the 
various portions of so vast a region, were deeply fixed. 
Distinct sovereignties were in actual existence, whose cor- 
dial union was essential to the welfare and happiness of 
all. Between many of them there was, at least to some 
extent, a real diversity of interests, liable to be exagger- 
ated through sinister designs ; they differed in size, in 
population, in wealth, and in actual and prospective re- 
sources and power; they varied in the character of their 
industry and staple productions ; and in some existed 
domestic institutions, which, unwisely disturbed, might 
endanger the harmony of the whole. Most carefully were 
all these circumstances weighed, and the foundation of 
the government laid upon principles of mutual concession 
and equitable compromise. The jealousies which trie 
smaller states might entertain of the power of the rest, 
were allayed by a rule of representation, confessedly un- 
equal at the time, and designed forever to remain so. A 



van buren's inaugural address. 195 

natural fear that the broad scope of general legislation 
might bear upon and unwisely control particular interests, 
was counteracted by limits strictly drawn around the ac- 
tion of the federal authority ; aud to the people and the 
states was left unimpaired their sovereign power over the 
innumerable subjects embraced in the internal government 
of a just republic, excepting such only as necessarily ap- 
pertain to the concerns of the whole confederacy, or its 
intercourse, as a united community, with the other nations 
of the world. 

This provident forecast has been verified by time. 
Half a century, teeming with extraordinary events, and 
elsewhere producing astonishing results, has passed along ; 
but on our institutions it has left no injurious mark. 
From a small community, we have risen to a people pow- 
erful in numbers and in strength ; but with our increase 
has gone hand in hand the progress of just principle ; the 
privileges, civil and religious, of the humblest individual 
are sacredly protected at home ; and while the valor and 
fortitude of our people have removed far from us the 
slightest apprehension of foreign power, they have not 
yet induced us, in a single instance, to forget what is 
right. Our commerce has been extended to the remotest 
nations ; the value, and even nature of the productions 
has been greatly changed ; a wide difference has arisen in 
the relative wealth and resources of every portion of our 
country ; yet the spirit of mutual regard and of faithful 
adherence to existing compacts, has continued to prevail in 
our councils, and never long been absent from our conduct. 
We have learned by experience a fruitful lesson, that an 
implicit and undeviating adherence to the principles on 
which we set out can carry us prosperously onward through 
all the conflicts of circumstances, and the vicissitudes in- 
separable from the lapse of years. 

The success that has thus attended our great experi- 
ment is, in itself, sufficient cause for gratitude, on account 
of the happiness it has actually conferred, and the example 
it has unanswerably given. But to me, my fellow-citizens, 
looking forward to the far-distant future, with ardent 
prayers and confiding hopes, this retrospect presents a 
ground for still deeper delight. It impresses on my mind 



196 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

a firm belief that the perpetuity of our institutions depends 
upon themselves ; that, if we maintain the principles on 
which they were established, they are destined to confer 
their benefits on countless generations yet to come ; and 
that America will present to every friend of mankind the 
cheering proof, that a popular government, wisely formed, 
is wanting in no element of endurance or strength. Fifty 
years ago, its rapid failure was predicted. Latent and un- 
controllable causes of dissolution were supposed to exist, 
even by the wise and good ; and not only did unfriendly or 
speculative theorists anticipate for us the fate of past repub- 
lics, but the fear of many an honest patriot overbalanced 
his sanguine hopes. Look back on these forebodings, not 
hastily, but reluctantly made, and see how, in every in- 
stance, they have completely failed. 

An imperfect experience, during the struggles of the 
revolution, was supposed to warrant the belief that the 
people would not bear the taxation requisite to the dis- 
charge of an immense public debt already incurred, and 
to defray the necessary expenses of government. The 
cost of two wars has been paid, not only without a mur- 
mur, but with unequalled alacrity. No one is now left to 
doubt that every burden will be cheerfully borne that may 
be necessary to sustain our civil institutions, or guard our 
honor or our welfare. Indeed, all experience has shown 
that the willingness of the people to contribute to these 
ends, in cases of emergency, has uniformly outrun the con- 
fidence of their representatives. 

In the early stages of the new government, when all felt 
the imposing influence, as they recognized the unequalled 
services of the first President, it was a common sentiment, 
that the great weight of his character could alone bind the 
discordant materials of our government together, and save 
us from the violence of contending factions. Since his 
death, nearly forty years are gone. Party exasperation 
has been often carried to its highest point ; the virtue and 
fortitude of the people have sometimes been greatly tried ; 
yet our system, purified and enhanced in value by all it 
has encountered, still preserves its spirit of free and fear- 
less discussion, blended with unimpaired fraternal feeling. 

The capacity of the people for self-government, and 



197 

their willingness, from a high sense of duty, and without 
those exhibitions of coercive power so generally employed 
in other countries, to submit to all needful restraints and 
exactions of the municipal law, have also been favorably 
exemplified in the history of the American states. Oc- 
casionally, it is true, the ardor of public sentiment, out- 
running the regular process of the judicial tribunals, or 
seeking to reach cases not denounced as criminal by the 
existing law, has displayed itself in a manner calculated 
to give pain to the friends of free government, and to en- 
courage the hopes of those who wish for its overthrow. 
These occurrences, however, have been less frequent in 
our country than any other of equal population on the 
globe ; and with the diffusion of intelligence, it may well 
be hoped that they will constantly diminish in frequency 
and violence. The generous patriotism and sound com- 
mon sense of the great mass of our fellow-citizens, will 
assuredly, in time, produce this result; for as every as- 
sumption of illegal power not only wounds the majesty of 
the law, but furnishes a pretext for abridging the liberties 
of the people, the latter have the most direct and perma- 
nent interest in preserving the great landmarks of social 
order, and maintaining, on all occasions, the inviolability 
of those constitutional and legal provisions which they 
themselves have made. 

In a supposed unfitness of our institutions for those 
hostile emergencies which no country can always avoid, 
their friends found a fruitful source of apprehension, their 
enemies of hope. While they foresaw less promptness of 
action than in governments differently formed, they over- 
looked the far more important considerations, that with us 
war could never be the result of individual or irrespon- 
sible will, but must be a measure of redress for injuries 
sustained, voluntarily resorted to by those who were to bear 
the necessary sacrifice, who would consequently feel an 
individual interest in the contest, and whose energy would 
be commensurate with the difficulties to be encountered. 
Actual events have proved their error ; the last war, far 
from impairing, gave new confidence to our government; 
and amid recent apprehensions of a similar conflict, we saw 
that the energies of our country would not be wanting in 
17* 



198 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

ample season to vindicate its rights. We may not possess, 
as we should not desire to possess, the extended and ever- 
ready military organization of other nations ; we may oc- 
casionally suffer in the outset for the want of it, but, among 
ourselves, all doubt upon this great point has ceased, while 
a salutary experience will prevent a contrary opinion from 
inviting aggression from abroad. 

Certain danger was foretold from the extension of our 
territory, the multiplication of states, and the increase of 
population. Our system was supposed to be adapted only 
to boundaries comparatively narrow. These have been 
widened beyond conjecture ; the members of our confed- 
eracy are already doubled ; and the numbers of our people 
are incredibly augmented. The alleged causes of danger 
have long surpassed anticipation, but none of the conse- 
quences have followed. The power and influence of the 
republic have risen to a height obvious to all mankind ; 
respect for its authority was not more apparent at its ancient 
than it is at its present limits; new and inexhaustible 
sources of general prosperity have been opened; the effects 
of distance have been averted by the inventive genius of 
our people, developed and fostered by the spirit of our in- 
stitutions ; and the large variety and amount of interests, 
productions, and pursuits, have strengthened the chain of 
mutual dependence, and formed a circle of mutual benefits, 
too apparent ever to be overlooked. 

In justly balancing the powers of the federal and state 
authorities, difficulties nearly insurmountable arose at the 
outset, and subsequent collisions were deemed inevitable. 
Amid these, it was scarcely believed possible that a scheme 
of government so complex in construction could remain 
uninjured. From time to time, embarrassments have cer- 
tainly occurred ; but how just is the confidence of future 
safety imparted by the knowledge that each in succession 
has been happily removed ! Overlooking partial and tem- 
porary evils as inseparable from the practical operation of 
all human institutions, and looking only to the general 
result, every patriot has reason to be satisfied. While the 
federal government has successfully performed its appro- 
priate functions in relation to foreign affairs, and concerns 
evidently national, that of every state has remarkably im- 



VAN BUREN 5 S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 199 

proved in protecting and developing local interests and 
individual welfare; and if the vibrations of authority have 
occasionally tended too much towards one or other, it is 
unquestionably certain that the ultimate operation of the 
entire system has been to strengthen all the existing insti- 
tutions, and to elevate our whole country in prosperity and 
renown. 

The last, perhaps the greatest, of the prominent sources 
of discord and disaster supposed to lurk in our political 
condition, was the institution of domestic slavery. Our 
forefathers were deeply impressed with the delicacy of this 
subject, and they treated it with a forbearance so evidently 
wise, that, in spite of every sinister foreboding, it never, 
until the present period, disturbed the tranquillity of our 
common country. Such a result is sufficient evidence of 
the justice and patriotism of their course ; it is evidence 
not to be mistaken, that an adherence to it can prevent all 
embarrassment from this, as well as every other anticipated 
cause of difficulty or danger. Have not recent events 
made it obvious to the slightest reflection, that the least 
deviation from this spirit of forbearance is injurious to 
every interest, that of humanity included 1 

Amidst the violence of excited passions, this generous 
and fraternal feeling has been sometimes disregarded ; and 
standing as I now do before my countrymen, in this high 
place of honor and trust, 1 cannot refrain from anxiously 
invoking my fellow-citizens never to be deaf to its dictates. 
Perceiving, before my election, the deep interest this sub- 
ject was beginning to excite, I believed it a solemn duty 
fully to make known my sentiments in regard to it; and 
now, when every motive for misrepresentation has passed 
away, I trust that they will be candidly weighed and un- 
derstood. At least they will be my standard of conduct in 
the path before me. I then declared that, if the desire of 
those of my countrymen who were favorable to my election 
was gratified, "I must go into the presidential chair the 
inflexible and uncompromising opponent of every attempt, 
on the part of Congress, to abolish slavery in the District 
of Columbia, against the wishes of the slaveholding states; 
and also with a determination equally decided to resist the 
slightest interference with it in the states where it exists." 



200 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

I submitted also to my fellow-citizens, with fulness and 
frankness, the reasons which led me to this determination. 
The result authorizes me to believe that they have been 
approved, and are confided in by a majority of the people 
of the United States, including those whom they most im- 
mediately affect. It now only remains to add, that no bill 
conflicting with these views can ever receive my constitu- 
tional sanction. These opinions have been adopted in the 
firm belief that they are in accordance with the spirit that 
actuated the venerated fathers of the republic, and that 
succeeding experience has proved them to be humane, 
patriotic, expedient, honorable, and just, If the agitation 
of this subject was intended to reach the stability of our 
institutions, enough has occurred to show that it has 
signally failed ; and that in this, as in every other instance, 
the apprehensions of the timid and the hopes of the wicked 
for the destruction of our government, are again destined 
to be disappointed. Here and there, indeed, scenes of 
dangerous excitement have occurred ; terrifying instances 
of local violence have been witnessed; and a reckless dis- 
regard of the consequences of their conduct has exposed 
individuals to popular indignation ; but neither masses of 
the people nor sections of the country have swerved from 
their devotion to the bond of union, and the principles it 
has made sacred. It will be ever thus. Such attempts at 
agitation may periodically return, but with each the object 
will be better understood. That predominating affection 
for our political system which prevails throughout our ter- 
ritorial limits, that calm and enlightened judgment which 
ultimately governs our people as one vast body, will always 
be at hand to resist and control every effort, foreign or 
domestic, which aims or would lead to overthrow our in- 
stitutions. 

What can be more gratifying than such a retrospect as 
this ? We look back on obstacles avoided and dangers 
overcome; on expectations more than realized, and pros- 
perity perfectly secured. To the hopes of the hostile, the 
fears of the timid, and the doubts of the anxious, actual 
experience has given the conclusive reply. We have seen 
time gradually dispel every unfavorable foreboding, and 
our constitution surmount every adverse circumstance, 



VAN BUREN's INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 201 

dreaded at the outset as beyond control. Present excite- 
ment will, at all times, magnify present dangers; but true 
philosophy must teach us that none more threatening than 
the past can remain to be overcome ; and we ought, for we 
have just reason, to entertain an abiding confidence in the 
stability of our institutions, and an entire conviction that, 
if administered in the true form, character, and spirit in 
which they were established, they are abundantly adequate 
to preserve to us and our children the rich blessings al- 
ready derived from them ; to make our beloved land, for a 
thousand generations, that chosen spot where happiness 
springs from a perfect equality of political rights. 

For myself, therefore, I desire to declare, that the prin- 
ciple that will govern me in the high duty to which my 
country calls me, is a strict adherence to the letter and 
spirit of the constitution, as it was designed by those who 
framed it. Looking back to it as a sacred instrument, 
carefully and not easily framed ; remembering that it was 
throughout a work of concession and compromise, viewing 
it as limited to national objects ; regarding it as leaving to 
the people and the states all, power not explicitly parted 
with, — I shall endeavor to preserve, protect, and defend it, 
by anxiously referring to its provisions for direction in 
every action. To matters of domestic concernment which 
it has intrusted to the federal government, and to such as 
relate to our intercourse with foreign nations, I shall zeal- 
ously devote myself; beyond those limits I shall never pass. 

To enter, on this occasion, into a further or more 
minute exposition of my views on the various questions 
of domestic policy, would be as obtrusive as it is probably 
unexpected. Before the suffrages of my countrymen were 
conferred upon me, I submitted to them, with great pre- 
cision, my opinions on all the most prominent of these 
subjects. Those opinions I shall endeavor to carry out 
with the utmost of my ability. 

Our course of foreign policy has been so uniform and 
intelligible, as to constitute a rule of executive conduct 
which leaves little to my discretion, unless, indeed, I were 
willing to run counter to the lights of experience, and the 
known opinions of my constituents. We sedulously cul- 
tivate the friendship of all nations, as the condition most 



202 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

compatible with our welfare, and the principles of our 
government. We decline alliances, as adverse to our 
peace. We desire commercial relations on equal terms, 
being ever willing to give a fair equivalent for advantages 
received. We endeavor to conduct our intercourse with 
openness and sincerity; promptly avowing our objects, 
and seeking to establish that mutual frankness which is as 
beneficial in the dealings of nations as of men. We have 
no disposition, and we disclaim all right, to meddle in dis- 
putes, whether internal or foreign, that may molest other 
countries ; regarding them in their actual state, as social 
communities, and preserving a strict neutrality in all their 
controversies. Well knowing the tried valor of our people, 
and our exhaustless resources, we neither anticipate nor 
fear any designed aggression ; and in the consciousness of 
our own just conduct, we feel a security that we shall 
never be called upon to exert our determination, never to 
permit an invasion of our rights, without punishment or 
redress. 

In approaching, then, in the presence of my assembled 
countrymen, to make the sole/nn promise that yet remains, 
and to pledge myself that I will faithfully execute the office 
I am about to fill, I bring with me a settled purpose to 
maintain the institutions of my country, which, I trust, 
will atone for the errors I commit. 

In receiving from the people the sacred trust twice con- 
fided to my illustrious predecessor, and which he has dis- 
charged so faithfully and so well, I know that I cannot 
expect to perform the arduous task with equal ability and 
success. But, united as I have been in his counsels, a 
daily witness of his exclusive and unsurpassed devotion to 
his country's welfare, agreeing with him in sentiments 
which his countrymen have warmly supported, and per- 
mitted to partake largely of his confidence, I may hope 
that somewhat of the same cheering approbation will be 
found to attend upon my path. For him, I but express, 
with my own, the wishes of all, that he may yet long live 
to enjoy the brilliant evening of his well-spent life, and 
for myself, conscious of but one desire, faithfully to serve 
my country, I throw myself, without fear, on its justice 
and kindness. Beyond that, I only look to the gracious 



VAN BUREN's FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 203 

protection of that Divine Being whose strengthening sup- 
port I humbly solicit, and whom I fervently pray to look 
down upon us all. May it be among the dispensations 
of his providence to bless our beloved country with honors 
and with length of days ; may her ways be ways of pleas- 
antness, and all her paths be peace. 



VAN BUREN'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 

December 4, 1837. 

To the Senate 

and House of Representatives : 

We have reason to renew the expression of our devout 
gratitude to the Giver of all good for his benign protec- 
tion. Our country presents on every side the evidences 
of that continued favor under whose auspices it has grad- 
ually risen from a few feeble and dependent colonies to a 
prosperous and powerful confederacy. We are blessed 
with domestic tranquillity and all the elements of national 
prosperity. The pestilence which, invading for a time 
some nourishing portions of the Union, interrupted the 
general prevalence of unusual health, has happily been 
limited in extent,, and arrested in its fatal career. The 
industry and prudence of our citizens are gradually reliev- 
ing them from the pecuniary embarrassments under which 
portions of them have labored; judicious legislation, and 
the natural and boundless resources of the country, have 
afforded wise and timely aid to private enterprise ; and the 
activity always characteristic of our people has already in 
a great degree resumed its usual and profitable channels. 

The condition of our foreign relations has not materially 
changed since the last annual message of my predecessor. 
We remain in peace with all nations ; nnd no efforts on my 
part, consistent with the preservation of our rights and the 
honor of our country, shall be spared to maintain a position 
so consonant to our institutions. We have faithfully sus- 
tained the foreign policy with which the United States, 



204 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

under the guidance of their first President, took their stand 
in the family of nations — that of regulating their inter- 
course with other powers by the approved principles of 
private life ; asking and according equal rights and equal 
privileges ; rendering and demanding justice in all cases ; 
advancing then; own and discussing the pretensions of 
others, with candor, directness, and sincerity ; appealing at 
all times to reason, but never yielding to force, nor seeking 
to acquire any thing for themselves by its exercise. 

A rigid adherence to this policy has left this government 
with scarcely a claim upon its justice, for injuries arising 
from acts committed by its authority. The most imposing 
and perplexing of those of the United States upon foreign 
governments for aggressions upon our citizens, were dis- 
posed of by my predecessor. Independently of the benefits 
conferred upon our citizens by restoring to the mercantile 
community so many millions of which they had been 
wrongfully divested, a great service was also rendered to 
his country by the satisfactory adjustment of so many an- 
cient and irritating subjects of contention ; and it reflects 
no ordinary credit on his successful administration of pub- 
lic affairs, that this great object was accomplished without 
compromising, on any occasion, either the honor or the 
peace of the nation. 

With European powers, no new subjects of difficulty 
have arisen ; and those which were under discussion, al- 
though not terminated, do not present a more unfavorable 
aspect for the future preservation of that good understand- 
ing which it has ever been our desire to cultivate. 

Of pending questions, the most important is that which 
exists with the government of Great Britain, in respect to 
our north-eastern boundary. It is with unfeigned regret 
that the people of the United States must look back upon 
the abortive efforts made by the executive, for a period of 
more than half a century, to determine, what no nation 
should suffer long to remain in dispute, the true line which 
divides its possessions from those of other powers. The 
nature of the settlement on the borders of the United 
States, and of the neighboring territory, was for a season 
such, that this, perhaps, was not indispensable to a faithful 
performance of the duties of the federal government. 



VAN BUREN'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 205 

Time has, however, changed this state of things ; and 
has brought about a condition of affairs, in which the true 
interests of both countries imperatively require that this 
question should be put at rest. It is not to be disguised, 
that with full confidence, often expressed, in the desire of 
the British government to terminate it, we are apparently 
as far from its adjustment as we were at the time of signing 
the treaty of peace in 1783. The sole result of long-pend- 
ing negotiations, and a perplexing arbitration, appears to 
be a conviction, on its part, that a conventional line must 
be adopted, from the impossibility of ascertaining the true 
one according to the description contained in that treaty. 
Without coinciding in this opinion, which is not thought 
to be well founded, my predecessor gave the strongest 
proof of the earnest desire of the United States to terminate 
satisfactorily this dispute, by proposing the substitution of 
a conventional line, if the consent of the states interested 
in the question could be obtained. 

To this proposition, no answer has yet been received. 
The attention of the British government, however, has 
been earnestly invited to the subject, and its reply cannot, 
I am confident, be much longer delayed. The general 
relations between Great Britain and the United States 
are of the most friendly character, and I am well satisfied 
of the sincere disposition of that government to maintain 
them upon their present footing. This disposition has 
also, I am persuaded, become more general with the peo- 
ple of England than at any previous period. It is scarcely 
necessary to say to you, how cordially it is reciprocated 
by the government and the people of the United States. 
The conviction, which must be common to all, of the in- 
jurious consequences that result from keeping open this 
irritating question, and the certainty that its final settle- 
ment cannot be much longer deferred, will, I trust, lead 
to an early and satisfactory adjustment. At your last 
session, I laid before you the recent communications be- 
tween the two governments, and between this government 
and that of the state of Maine, in whose solicitude, con- 
cerning a subject in which she has so deep an interest, 
every portion of the Union participates. 

The feelings produced by a temporary interruption of 
18 



206 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

those harmonious relations between France and the Uni- 
ted States, which are due as well to the recollections of 
former times as to a correct appreciation of existing inter- 
ests, have been happily succeeded by a cordial disposition 
on both sides to cultivate an active friendship in their 
future intercourse. The opinion, undoubtedly correct, and 
steadily entertained by us, that the commercial relations at 
present existing between the two countries, are suscep- 
tible of great and reciprocally beneficial improvements, 
is obviously gaining ground in France ; and I am assured 
of the disposition of that government to favor the accom- 
plishment of such an object. This disposition shall be 
met in a proper spirit on our part. The few and com- 
paratively unimportant questions that remain to be ad- 
justed between us, can, I have no doubt, be settled with 
entire satisfaction, and without difficulty. 

Between Russia and the United States, sentiments of 
good-will continue to be mutually cherished. Our min- 
ister recently accredited to that court, has been received 
with a frankness and cordiality, and with evidences of 
respect for his country, which leaves us no room to doubt 
the preservation in future of those amicable and liberal 
relations which have so long and so uninterruptedly ex- 
isted between the two countries. On the few subjects 
under discussion between us, an early and just decision 
is confidently anticipated. 

A correspondence has been opened with the government 
of Austria, for the establishment of diplomatic relations, 
in conformity with the wishes of Congress,* as indicated 
by an appropriation act of the session of 1837, and ar- 
rangements made for the purpose, which will be duly 
carried into effect. 

With Austria and Prussia, and with the states of the 
German empire, now composing with the latter the Com- 
mercial League, our political relations are of the most 
friendly character, while our commercial intercourse is 
gradually extending, with benefit to all who are engaged 
in it. 

Civil war yet rages in Spain, producing intense suffer- 
ing to its own people, and to other nations inconvenience 
and regret. Our citizens who have claims upon that 



VAN BUREN 5 S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 207 

country will be prejudiced for a time by the condition of 
its treasury, the inevitable consequence of long-continued 
and exhausting internal wars. The last instalment of 
the interest of the debt due under the convention with the 
queen of Spain has not been paid ; and similar failures 
may be expected to happen until a portion of the resources 
of her kingdom can be devoted to the extinguishment of 
its foreign debt. 

Having received satisfactory evidence that discriminating 
tonnage duties were charged upon vessels of the United 
States in the ports of Portugal, a proclamation was issued 
on the 11th day of October last, in compliance with the 
act of May 25th, 1832, declaring that fact, and the duties 
on foreign tonnage, which were levied upon Portuguese 
vessels in the United States, previously to the passage of 
that act, are accordingly revived. 

The act of July 4th, 1836, suspending the discriminating 
duties upon the produce of Portugal imported into this 
country in Portuguese vessels, was passed, upon the appli- 
cation of that government, through its representative here, 
under the belief that no similar discrimination existed in 
Portugal to the prejudice of the United States. I regret 
to state that such duties are now exacted, in that country, 
upon the cargoes of American vessels ; and as the act re- 
ferred to vests no discretion in the executive, it is for 
Congress to determine upon the expediency of further 
legislation upon the subject. Against these discrimina- 
tions, affecting the vessels of this country and their cargoes, 
seasonable remonstrance was made, and notice was given 
to the Portuguese government, that, unless they should be 
discontinued, the adoption of countervailing measures on 
the part of the United States would become necessary ; but 
the reply of that government, received at the department 
of state through our charge d'affaires at Lisbon, in the 
month of September last, afforded no ground to hope for 
the abandonment of a system so little in harmony with the 
treatment shown to the vessels of Portugal and their car- 
goes, in the ports of this country, and so contrary to the 
expectations we had a right to entertain. 

With Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Naples, and Bel- 



208 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

gium, a friendly intercourse has been uninterruptedly 
maintained. 

With the government of the Ottoman Porte, and its de- 
pendencies on the coast of the Mediterranean, peace and 
good-will are carefully cultivated, and have been fostered 
by such good offices as the relative distance and the con- 
dition of those countries would permit. 

Our commerce with Greece is carried on under the laws 
of the two governments, reciprocally beneficial to the nav- 
igating interests of both ; and I have reason to look for- 
ward to the adoption of other measures which will be more 
extensively and permanently advantageous. 

Copies of the treaties concluded with the governments 
of Siam and Muscat are transmitted for the information 
of Congress, the ratifications having been received, and the 
treaties made public, since the close of the last annual 
session. Already have we reason to congratulate ourselves 
on the prospect of considerable commercial benefit ; and 
we have, besides, received from the Sultan of Muscat, 
prompt evidence of his desire to cultivate the most friendly 
feelings, by liberal acts towards one of our vessels, bestowed 
in a manner so striking as to require on our part a grateful 
acknowledgment. 

Our commerce with the Island of Cuba and Porto 
Rico still labors under heavy restrictions, the continuance 
of which is a subject of regret. The only effect of an 
adherence to them will be to benefit the navigation of 
other countries, at the expense both of the United States 
and Spain. 

The independent nations of this continent have, ever 
since they emerged from the colonial state, experienced 
severe trials in their progress to the permanent establish- 
ment of liberal political institutions. Their unsettled 
condition not only interrupts their own advances to pros- 
perity, but has often seriously injured the other powers of 
the world. The claims of our citizens upon Peru, Chili. 
Brazil, the Argentine Republic, the governments formed 
out of the republics of Colombia and Mexico, are still 
pending, although many of them have been presented for 
examination more than twenty years. New Grenada, 



VAN BUREN ? S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 209 

Venezuela, and Ecuador, have recently formed a conven- 
tion for the purpose of ascertaining and adjusting the 
claims upon the republic of Colombia, from which it is 
earnestly hoped our citizens will, ere long, receive full 
compensation for the injuries originally inilicted upon 
them, and for the delay in aiic-rding it. 

An advantageous treaty of commerce has been con- 
cluded by the United States with the Peru-Bolivian Con- 
federation, which wants only the ratification of that gov- 
ernment. The progress of a subsequent negotiation for 
the settlement of claims upon Peru, has been unfavorably 
affected by the war between that power and Chili, and 
the Argentine Republic ; and the same event is likely to 
produce delays in the settlement of our demands on those 
powers. 

The aggravating circumstances connected with our 
claims upon Mexico, and a variety of events touching 
the honor and integrity of our government, led my prede- 
cessor to make, at the second session of the last Congress, 
a special recommendation of the course to be pursued to 
obtain a speedy and final satisfaction of the injuries com- 
plained of by this government and by our citizens. He 
recommended a final demand of redress, with a contingent 
authority to the executive to make reprisals, if that de- 
mand should be made in vain. From the proceedings of 
Congress on that recommendation, it appeared that the 
opinion of both branches of the legislature coincided v/ith 
that of the executive, that any mode of redress known to 
the law of nations might justifiably be used. It was ob- 
vious, too, that Congress believed, with the President, 
that another demand should be made, in order to give 
undeniable and satisfactory proof of our desire to avoid 
extremities with a neighboring power ; but that there 
was an indisposition to vest a discretionary authority in 
the executive to take redress, should it unfortunately be 
either denied or unreasonably delayed by the Mexican 
government. 

So soon as the necessary documents were prepared, 
after entering upon the duties of my office, a special mes- 
senger was sent to Mexico, to make a final demand of re- 
dress, with the documents required by the provisions of 
18* 



210 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

our treaty. The demand was made on the 20th of July 
last. The reply, which bears date the 29th of the same 
month, contains assurances of a desire, on the part of that 
government, to give a prompt and explicit answer respect- 
ing each of the complaints, but that the examination of 
them would necessarily be deliberate ; that in this exami- 
nation it would be guided by the principles of public law 
and the obligation of treaties ; that nothing should be left 
undone that might lead to the most equitable adjustment 
of our demands ; and that its determination, in respect to 
each case, should be communicated through the Mexican 
minister here. 

Since that time, an envoy extraordinary and minister 
plenipotentiary has been accredited to this government 
by that of the Mexican republic. He brought with him 
assurances of a sincere desire that the pending differences 
between the two governments should be terminated in a 
manner satisfactory to both. He was received with re- 
ciprocal assurances, and a hope was entertained that his 
mission would lead to a speedy, satisfactory, and final ad- 
justment of all existing subjects of complaint. A sincere 
believer in the wisdom of the pacific policy by which the 
United States have always been governed in their inter- 
course with foreign nations, it was my particular desire, 
from the proximity of the Mexican republic, and well- 
known occurrences on our frontier, to be instrumental in 
obviating all existing difficulties with that government, 
and in restoring to the intercourse between the two re- 
publics, that liberal and friendly character by which they 
should always be distinguished. I regret, therefore, the 
more deeply, to have found in the recent communications 
of that government, so little reason to hope that any 
efforts of mine for the accomplishment of those desirable 
objects would be successful. 

Although the larger number, and many of them aggra- 
vated cases, of personal wrongs have been now for years 
before the Mexican government, and some of the causes 
of national complaint, and those of the most offensive char- 
acter, admitted of immediate, simple, and satisfactory re- 
plies, it is only within a few days past that any specific 
communication in answer to our last demand, made five 



VAN BUREN'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 211 

months ago, has been received from the Mexican minis- 
ter. By the report of the secretary of state, herewith 
presented, and the accompanying documents, it will be 
seen that for not one of our public complaints has satis- 
faction been given or offered ; that but one of the causes 
of personal wrong has been favorably considered; and 
that but four cases of both descriptions, out of all those 
formally presented, and earnestly pressed, have as yet been 
decided upon by the Mexican government. 

Not perceiving in what manner any of the powers given 
to the executive alone, could be further usefully employed 
in bringing this unfortunate controversy to a satisfactory 
termination, the subject was, by my predecessor, referred 
to Congress, as one calling for its interposition. In ac- 
cordance with the clearly understood wishes of the legis- 
lature, another and formal demand for satisfaction has 
been made upon the Mexican government, with what suc- 
cess the documents now communicated will show. On a 
careful and deliberate examination of their contents, and 
considering the spirit manifested by the Mexican gov- 
ernment, it has become my painful duty to return the 
subject, as it now stands, to Congress, to whom it belongs 
to decide upon the time, the mode, and the measures of 
redress. Whatever may be your decision, it shall be 
faithfully executed, confident that it will be characterized 
by that moderation and justice which will, I trust, under 
all circumstances, govern the councils of our country. 

The balance in the treasury on the first day of January, 
1837, was forty-five millions nine hundred and sixty-eight 
thousand five hundred and twenty-three dollars. The 
receipts, during the present year, from all sources, inclu- 
ding the amount of treasury notes issued, are estimated at 
twenty-three millions four hundred and ninety-nine thou- 
sand nine hundred and eighty-one dollars, constituting an 
aggregate of sixty-nine millions four hundred and sixty- 
eight thousand five hundred and four dollars. Of this 
amount, about thirty-five millions two hundred and eighty- 
one thousand three hundred and sixty-one dollars will 
have been expended, at the end of the year, on appro- 
priations made by Congress; and the residue, amounting 
to thirty-four millions one hundred and eighty-seven thou- 



212 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

sand one hundred and forty-three dollars, .will be the 
nominal balance in the treasury on the first of January 
next. But of that sum, only one million eighty-five thou- 
sand four hundred and ninety-eight dollars is considered 
as immediately available for, and applicable to, public 
purposes. 

Those portions of it which will be for some time una- 
vailable, consist chiefly of sums deposited with the states, 
and due from the former deposit banks. The details 
upon this subject will be found in the annual report of 
the secretary of the treasury. The amount of treasury 
notes which it will be necessary to issue during the year 
on account of those funds being unavailable, will, it is 
supposed, not exceed four and a half millions. It seemed 
proper, in the condition of the country, to have the esti- 
mates on all subjects made as low as practicable, without 
prejudice to any great public measures. The departments 
were, therefore, desired to prepare their estimates accord- 
ingly ; and I am happy to find that they have been able to 
graduate them on so economical a scale. 

In the great and often unexpected fluctuations to which 
the revenue is subjected, it is not possible to compute the 
receipts beforehand with great certainty ; but should they 
not differ essentially from present anticipations, and should 
the appropriations not much exceed the estimates, no dif- 
ficulty seems likely to happen in defraying the current 
expenses with promptitude and fidelity. 

Notwithstanding the great embarrassments which have 
recently occurred in commercial affairs, and the liberal in- 
dulgence which, in consequence of those embarrassments, 
has been extended to both the merchants and the banks, 
it is gratifying to be able to anticipate that the treasury 
notes which have been issued during the present year 
will be redeemed, and that the resources of the treas- 
ury, without any resort to loans or increased taxes, will 
prove ample for defraying all charges imposed on it 
during 1838. 

The report of the secretary of the treasury will afford 
you a more minute exposition of all matters connected 
with the administration of the finances during the current 
year ; a period which, for the amount of public moneys 



VAN BUREN 5 S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 213 

disbursed and deposited with the states, as well as the 
financial difficulties encountered and overcome, has few 
parallels in our history. 

Your attention was, at the last session, invited to the 
necessity of additional legislative provisions in respect to 
the collection, safe-keeping, and transfer of the public 
money. No law having been then matured, and not un- 
derstanding the proceedings of Congress as intended to be 
final, it becomes my duty again to bring the subject to 
your notice. 

On that occasion, three modes of performing this branch 
of the public service were presented for consideration. 
These were, the creation of a national bank ; the revival, 
with modifications, of the deposit system established by 
the act of the 23d June, 1836, permitting the use of the 
public moneys by the banks ; and the discontinuance of 
the use of such institutions for the purposes referred to, 
with suitable provisions for their accomplishment through 
the agency of public officers. Considering the opinions 
of both houses of Congress on the two first propositions as 
expressed in the negative, in which I entirely concur, it is 
unnecessary for me again to recur to them. In respect to 
the last, you have had an opportunity, since your adjourn- 
ment, not only to test still further the expediency of the 
measure, by the continued practical operation of such 
parts of it as are now in force, but also to discover — 
what should ever be sought for and regarded with the 
utmost deference — the opinions and wishes of the people. 

The national will is the supreme law of the republic, 
and, on all subjects within the limits of its constitutional 
powers, should be faithfully obeyed by the public servant. 
Since the measure in question was submitted to your con- 
sideration, most of you have enjoyed the advantage of per- 
sonal communication with your constituents. For one 
state only has an election been held for the federal gov- 
ernment; but the early day at which it took place, de- 
prives the measure under consideration of much of the 
support it might otherwise have derived from the result. 
Local elections for state officers have, however, been held 
in several of the states, at which the expediency of the 
plan proposed by the executive has been more or less dis- 



214 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

cussed. You will, I am confident, yield to their results 
the respect due to every expression of the public voice. 
Desiring, however, to arrive at truth and a just view of 
the subject in all its bearings, you will at the same time 
remember, that questions of far deeper and more imme- 
diate local interest than the fiscal plans of the national 
treasury were involved in those elections. 

Above all, we cannot overlook the striking fact, that 
there were, at the time, in those states, more than one 
hundred and sixty millions of bank capital, of which large 
portions were subject to actual forfeiture — other large 
portions upheld only by special and limited legislative in- 
dulgences — and most of it, if not all, to a greater or less 
extent, dependent for a continuance of its corporate ex- 
istence upon the will of the state legislatures to be then 
chosen. Apprized of this circumstance, you will judge 
whether it is not most probable that the peculiar con- 
dition of that vast interest in these respects, the extent to 
which it has been spread through all the ramifications 
of society, its direct connection with the then pending 
elections, and the feelings it was calculated to infuse into 
the canvass, have not exercised a far greater influence 
over the result than any which could possibly have been 
produced by a conflict of opinion in respect to a question 
in the administration of the general government, more 
remote and far less important in its bearings upon that 
interest. 

I have found no reason to change my own opinion as 
to the expediency of adopting the system proposed, being 
perfectly satisfied that there will be neither stability nor 
safety, either in the fiscal affairs of the government, or in 
the pecuniary transactions of individuals and corporations, 
so long as a connection exists between them, which, like 
the past, offers such strong inducements to make them 
the subjects of political agitation. Indeed, I am more 
than ever convinced of the dangers to which the free 
and unbiased exercise of political opinion — the only sure 
foundation and safeguard of republican government — 
would be exposed by any further increase of the already 
overgrown influence of corporate authorities. I cannot, 
therefore, consistently with my views of duty, advise a 



VAN BUEEN'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 215 

renewal of a connection which circumstances have dis- 
solved. 

The discontinuance of the use of state banks for fiscal 
purposes ought not to be regarded as a measure of hos- 
tility towards these institutions. Banks properly estab- 
lished and conducted are highly useful to the business of 
the country, and doubtless will continue to exist in the 
states so long as they conform to their laws, and are 
found to be safe and beneficial. How they should be 
created, what privileges they should enjoy, under what 
responsibilities they should act, and to what restrictions 
they should be subject, are questions which, as I observed 
on a previous occasion, belong to the states to decide. 
Upon their rights, or the exercise of them, the general 
government can have no motive to encroach. Its duty 
toward them is well performed, when it refrains from 
legislating for their special benefit, because such legisla- 
tion would violate the spirit of the constitution, and be 
unjust to other interests ; when it takes no steps to impair 
their usefulness, but so manages its own affairs as to 
make it the interest of those institutions to strengthen and 
improve their condition for the security and welfare of the 
community at large. They have no right to insist on a 
connection with the federal government, nor on the use 
of the public money for their own benefit. 

The object of the measure under consideration is, to 
avoid for the future a compulsory connection of this kind. 
It proposes to place the general government, in regard 
to the essential points of the collection, safe-keeping, and 
transfer of the public money, in a situation which shall 
relieve it from all dependence on the will of irresponsible 
individuals or corporations ; to withdraw those moneys 
from the uses of private trade, and confine them to agents 
constitutionally selected and controlled by law ; to abstain 
from improper interference with the industry of the peo- 
ple, and withhold inducements to improvident dealings 
on the part of individuals ; to give stability to the con- 
cerns of the treasury ; to preserve the measures of the 
government from the unavoidable reproaches that flow 
from such a connection, and the banks themselves from 
the injurious effects of a supposed participation in the 



216 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

political conflicts of the day, from which they will other- 
wise find it difficult to escape. 

These are my views upon this important subject; formed 
after careful reflection, and with no desire but to arrive at 
what is most likely to promote the public interest. They 
are now, as they were before, submitted with an unfeigned 
deference for the opinions of others. It was hardly to be 
hoped that changes so important, on a subject so interest- 
ing, could be made without producing a serious diversity 
of opinion ; but so long as those conflicting views are 
kept above the influence of individual or local interests ; 
so long as they pursue only the general good, and are dis- 
cussed with moderation and candor, such diversity is a 
benefit, not an injury. If a majority of Congress see the 
public welfare in a different light, and more especially if 
they should be satisfied that the measure proposed would 
not be acceptable to the people, I shall look to their wis- 
dom to substitute such as may be more conducive to the 
one, and more satisfactory to the other. In any event ? 
they may confidently rely on my hearty cooperation to 
the fullest extent which my views of the constitution and 
my sense of duty will permit. 

It is obviously important to this branch of the public 
service, and to the business and quiet of the country, that 
the whole subject should in some way be settled and regu- 
lated by law; and, if possible, at your present session. 
Besides the plan above referred to, I am not aware that 
any one has been suggested, except that of keeping the 
public money in the state banks, in special deposit. This 
plan is, to some extent, in accordance with the practice 
of the government, and which, except, perhaps, during 
the operation of the late deposit act, has always been 
allowed, even during the existence of a national bank, to 
make a temporary use of the state banks, in particular 
places, for the safe-keeping of portions of the revenue. 

This discretionary power might be continued, if Con- 
gress deem it desirable, whatever general system may 
be adopted. So long as the connection is voluntary, we 
need, perhaps, anticipate few of those difficulties, and little 
of that dependence on the banks, which must attend every 
such connection when compulsory in its nature, and when 



VAN BUREN's FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 217 

so arranged as to make the banks a fixed part of the ma- 
chinery of government. It is undoubtedly in the power 
of Congress so to regulate and guard it as to prevent the 
public money from being applied to the use, or intermin- 
gled with the affairs, of individuals. Thus arranged, 
although it would not give to the government that control 
over its own funds which I desire to secure to it by the 
plan I have proposed, it would, it must be admitted, in a 
great degree, accomplish one of the objects which has 
recommended that plan to my judgment — the separation 
of the fiscal concerns of the government from those of 
individuals or corporations. 

With these observations, I recommend the whole mat- 
ter to your dispassionate reflection ; confidently hoping 
that some conclusion may be reached by your delibera- 
tions, which, on the one hand, shall give stability to the 
fiscal operations of the government, and be consistent, 
on the other, with the genius of our institutions, and with 
the interests and wishes of the great mass of our con- 
stituents. 

It was my hope that nothing would occur to make 
necessary, on this occasion, any allusion to the late national 
bank. There are circumstances, however, connected with 
the present state of its affairs, that bear so directly on the 
character of the government and the welfare of the citi- 
zen, that I should not feel myself excused in neglecting 
to notice them. The charter which terminated its bank- 
ing privileges on the 4th of March, 1836, continued its 
corporate powers two years more, for the sole purpose of 
closing its affairs, with authority " to use the corporate 
name, style, and capacity, for the purpose of suits, for a 
final settlement and liquidation of the affairs and acts of 
the corporation, and for the sale and disposition of their 
estate, real, personal, and mixed, but for no other purpose, 
or in any other manner whatsoever." Just before the 
banking privileges ceased, its effects were transferred by 
the bank to a new state institution, then recently incor- 
porated, in trust, for the discharge of its debts and the 
settlement of its affairs. 

With this trustee, by authority of Congress, an adjust- 
ment was subsequent! v made of the large interest which 
19 



218 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

the government had in the stock of the institution. The 
manner in which a trust unexpectedly created upon the 
act granting the charter, and involving such great public 
interests, has been executed, would, under any circum- 
stances, be a fit subject of inquiry ; but much more does it 
deserve your attention when it embraces the redemption 
of obligations to which the authority and credit of the 
United States have given value. The two years allowed 
are now nearly at an end. It is well understood that the 
trustee has not redeemed and cancelled the outstanding 
notes of the bank, but has re-issued, and is continually re- 
issuing, since the 3d of March, 1836, the notes which have 
been received by it to a vast amount. 

According to its own official statement, so late as the 
1st of October last, nineteen months after Jie banking 
privileges given by the charter had expired, it had under 
its control uncancelled notes of the late Bank of the United 
States to the amount of twenty-seven millions five hundred 
and sixty-one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six dollars, 
of which six millions one hundred and seventy-five thou- 
sand eight hundred and sixty-one dollars were in actual 
circulation, one million four hundred and sixty-eight 
thousand six hundred and twenty-seven dollars at state 
bank agencies, and three millions two thousand three 
hundred and ninety dollars in transitu ; thus showing that 
upwards of ten millions and a half of the notes of the old 
bank were then still kept outstanding. 

The impropriety of this procedure is obvious ; it being 
the duty of the trustee to cancel, and not to put forth, the 
notes of an institution whose concerns it had undertaken 
to wind up. If the trustee has a right to re-issue these 
notes now, I can see no reason why he may not continue to 
do so after the expiration of the two years. As no one 
could have anticipated a course so extraordinary, the pro- 
hibitory clause of the charter above quoted was not ac- 
companied by any penalty or other special provision for 
enforcing it ; nor have we any general law for the pre- 
vention of similar acts in future. 

But it is not in this view of the subject alone that your 
interposition is required. The United States, in settling 
with the trustee for their stock, have withdrawn their 



VAN BUREN ; S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 219 

funds from their former direct liability to the creditors of 
the old bank ; yet notes of the institution continue to be 
sent forth in its name, and apparently upon the authority 
of the United States. The transactions connected with 
the employment of the bills of the old bank are of vast 
extent ; and should they result unfortunately, the interests 
of individuals may be deeply compromised. Without un- 
dertaking to decide how far, or in what form, if any, the 
trustee could be made liable for notes which contain no 
obligation on his part ; or the old bank, for such as are 
put in circulation after the expiration of its charter, and 
without its authority ; or the government for indemnity in 
case of loss, the question still presses itself upon your con- 
sideration, whether it is consistent with duty and good 
faith on the part of the government, to witness this pro- 
ceeding without a single effort to arrest it. 

The report of the Commissioner of the General Land 
Office, which, will be laid before you by the secretary of 
the treasury, will show how the affairs of that office have 
been conducted for the past year. The disposition of the 
public lands is one of the most important trusts confided 
to Congress. The practicability of retaining the title and 
control of such extensive domains in the general govern- 
ment, and at the same time admitting the territories em- 
bracing them into the federal Union, as coequal with the 
original states, was seriously doubted by many of our 
wisest statesmen. All feared that they would become a 
source of discord, and many carried their apprehensions 
so far as to see in them the seeds of a future dissolution 
of the confederacy. But happily our experience has al- 
ready been sufficient to quiet, in a great degree, all such 
apprehensions. The position, at one time assumed, that 
the admission of new states into the Union on the same 
footing with the original states, was incompatible with a 
right of soil in the United States, and operated as a sur- 
render thereof, notwithstanding the terms of the compacts 
by which their admission was designed to be regulated, — 
has been wisely abandoned. 

Whether in the new or the old states, all now agree that 
the right of soil to the public lands remains in the federal 
government, and that these lands constitute a common 



220 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

property, to be disposed of for the common benefit of all 
the states, old and new. Acquiescence in this just princi- 
ple by the people of the new states has naturally promoted 
a disposition to adopt the most liberal policy in the sale of 
the public lands. A policy which should be limited to 
the mere object of selling the lands for the greatest pos- 
sible sum of money, without regard to higher considera- 
tions, finds but few advocates. On the contrary, it is 
generally conceded, that, while the mode of disposition 
adopted by the government should always be a prudent 
one, yet its leading object ought to be the early settlement 
and cultivation of the lands sold; and that it should dis- 
countenance, if it cannot prevent, the accumulation of 
large tracts in the same hands, which must necessarily re- 
tard the growth of the new states, or entail upon them a 
dependent territory and its attendant evils. 

A question embracing such important interests, and so 
well calculated to enlist the feelings of the people in every 
quarter of the Union, has very naturally given rise to 
numerous plans for the improvement of the existing sys- 
tem. The distinctive features of the policy that has hither- 
to prevailed, are, to dispose of the public lands at mod- 
erate prices, thus enabling a greater number to enter into 
competition for their purchase, and accomplishing a dou- 
ble object of promoting their rapid settlement by the pur- 
chasers, and at the same time increasing the receipts of the 
treasury ■ to sell for cash, thereby preventing the disturb- 
ing influence of a large mass of private citizens indebted 
to the government which they have a voice in controlling ; 
to bring them into the market no faster than good lands 
are supposed to be wanted for improvements, thereby pre- 
venting the accumulation of large tracts in few hands; and 
to apply the proceeds of the sales to the general purposes 
of the government ; thus diminishing the amount to be 
raised from the people of the states by taxation, and giving 
each state its portion of the benefits to be derived from 
this common fund in a manner the most quiet, and, at 
the same time, perhaps, the most equitable that can be 
devised. 

These provisions, with occasional enactments in behalf 
of special interests deemed entitled to the favor of govern- 



VAN BUREN'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 221 

ment, have, in their execution, produced results as bene- 
ficial, upon the whole, as could reasonably be expected in a 
matter so vast, so complicated, and so exciting. Upwards 
of seventy millions of acres have been sold, the greater 
part of which is believed to have been purchased for actual 
settlement. The population of the new states and territo- 
ries created out of the public domain, increased, between 
1800 and 1830, from less than sixty thousand, to upwards 
of two millions three hundred thousand souls, constituting, 
at the latter period, about one fifth of the whole people 
of the United States. The increase since cannot be ac- 
curately known, but the whole may now be safely estimated 
at over three and a half millions of souls ; composing nine 
states, the representatives of which constitute above one 
third of the Senate, and over one sixth of the House of 
the Representatives of the United States. 

Thus has been formed a body of free and independent 
landholders, with a rapidity unequalled in the history of 
mankind ; and this great result has been produced without 
leaving any thing for future adjustment between the gov- 
ernment and its citizens. The system under which so 
much has been accomplished cannot be intrinsically bad, 
and with occasional modifications, to correct abuses, and 
to adapt it to changes of circumstances, may, I think, be 
safely trusted for the future. There is in the management 
of such extensive interests, much virtue in stability ; and 
although great and obvious improvements should not be 
declined, changes should never be made without the full- 
est examination, and the clearest demonstration of their 
practical utility. 

In the history of the past, we have an assurance that this 
safe rule of action will not be departed from in relation to 
the public lands ; nor is it believed that any necessity exists 
for interfering with the fundamental principles of the sys- 
tem, or that the public mind, even in the new states, is 
desirous of any radical alterations. On the contrary, the 
general disposition appears to be, to make such modifications 
and additions only as will more effectually carry out the 
original policy of filling our new states and territories with 
an industrious and independent population. 

The modification most perseveringly pressed upon Con- 
19* 



222 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

gress, which has occupied so much of its time for years 
past, and will probably do so for a long time to come, if 
not sooner satisfactorily adjusted, is a reduction in the cost 
of such portions of the public lands as are ascertained to 
be unsalable at the rate now established by law, and a 
graduation, according to their relative value, of the prices 
at which they may hereafter be sold. It is worthy of con- 
sideration whether justice may not be done to every inter- 
est in this matter, and a vexed question set. at rest, perhaps 
forever, by a reasonable compromise of conflicting opinions. 
Hitherto, after being offered at public sale, lands have been 
disposed of at one uniform price, whatever difference there 
might be in their intrinsic value. 

The leading considerations urged in favor of the measure 
referred to, are, that in almost all the land districts, and 
particularly in those in which the lands have been long 
surveyed and exposed to sale, there are still remaining nu- 
merous and large tracts of every gradation of value, from 
the government price downward; that these lands will not 
be purchased at the government price, so long as better 
can be conveniently obtained for the same amount ; that 
there are large tracts which even the improvements of the 
adjacent lands will never raise to that price, and that the 
present uniform price, combined with their irregular value, 
operates to prevent a desirable compactness of settlement 
in the new states, and to retard the full development of 
that wise policy on which our land system is founded, to 
the injury not only of the several states where the lands 
lie, but of the United States as a whole. 

The remedy proposed has been a reduction in prices 
according to the length of time the lands have been in 
the market, without reference to any other circumstances. 
The certainty that the efflux of time would not always in 
such cases, and perhaps not even generally, furnish a true 
criterion of value, and the probability that persons residing 
in the vicinity, as the period for the reduction of prices 
approached, would postpone purchases they would other- 
wise make, for the purpose of availing themselves of the 
lower price, with other considerations of a similar char- 
acter, have hitherto been successfully urged to defeat the 
graduation upon time. 



VAN BUREN J S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 223 

May not all reasonable desires upon this subject be sat- 
isfied without encountering any of these objections ? All 
will concede the abstract principle, that the price of the 
public lands should be proportioned to their relative value, 
so far as that can be accomplished without departing from 
the rule heretofore observed, requiring fixed prices in cases 
of private entries. The difficulty of the subject seems to 
lie in the mode of ascertaining what that value is. Would 
not the safest plan be that which has been adopted by many 
of the states as to the basis of taxation — an actual 
valuation of lands and classification of them into differ- 
ent rates? 

Would it not be practicable and expedient to cause the 
relative value of the public lands in the old districts, which 
have been for a certain length of time in market, to be ap- 
praised and classed into two or more rates below the pres- 
ent minimum price, by the officers now employed in this 
branch of the public service, or in any other mode deemed 
preferable, and to make those prices permanent, if, upon 
the coming in of the report, they shall prove satisfactory to 
Congress ? Cannot all the objects of graduation be ac- 
complished in this way, and the objections which have 
hitherto been urged against it avoided? It would seem 
to me that such a step, with a restriction of the sales to 
limited quantities, and for actual improvement, would be 
free from all just exceptions. 

By the full exposition of the value of the lands thus 
furnished and extensively promulgated, persons living at 
a distance would be informed of their true condition, and 
enabled to enter into competition with those residing in 
the vicinity; the means of acquiring an independent home 
would be brought within the reach of many who are unable 
to purchase at present prices; the population of the new 
states would be more compact, and large tracts would be 
sold which would otherwise remain on hand ; not only 
would the land be brought within the means of a large 
number of purchasers, but many persons possessed of 
greater means would be content to settle on a larger quan- 
tity of the poorer lands, rather than emigrate farther west in 
pursuit of a smaller quantity of better lands. 

Such a measure would also seem to be more consistent 



224 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

with the policy of the existing laws — that of converting 
the public domain into cultivated farms owned by their 
occupants. That policy is not best promoted by sending 
emigration up the almost interminable streams of the west, 
to occupy in groups the best spots of land, leaving im- 
mense wastes behind them, and enlarging the frontier be- 
yond the means of the government to afford it adequate 
protection ; but in encouraging it to occupy, with reason- 
able denseness, the territory over which it advances, and 
find its best defence in the compact front which it presents 
to the Indian tribes. Many of you will bring to the con- 
sideration of the subject the advantage of local knowledge 
and greater experience, and all will be desirous of making 
an early and final disposition of every disturbing question 
in regard to this important interest. If these suggestions 
shall in any degree contribute to the accomplishment of 
so important a result, it will afford me sincere satisfaction. 

In some sections of the country, most of the public lands 
have been sold, and the registers and receivers have little 
to do. It is a subject worthy of inquiry whether, in many 
cases, two or more districts might not be consolidated, and 
the number of persons employed in this business consider- 
ably reduced. Indeed, the time will come, when it will be 
the true policy of the general government, as to some of 
the states, to transfer to them, for a reasonable equivalent, 
all the refuse and unsold lands, and to withdraw the 
machinery of the federal land-offices altogether. All who 
take a comprehensive view of our federal system, and be- 
lieve that one of its greatest excellences consists in inter- 
fering as little as possible with the internal concerns of the 
states, look forward with great interest to this result. 

A modification of the existing laws in respect to the 
prices of the public lands, might also have a favorable in- 
fluence on the legislation of Congress, in relation to an- 
other branch of the subject. Many who have not the 
ability to buy at present prices, settle on those lands, with 
the hope of acquiring from their cultivation the means of 
purchasing under preemption laws, from time to time 
passed by Congress. For this encroachment on the rights 
of the United States, they excuse themselves under the 
plea of their own necessities ; the fact that they dispossess 






VAN BUREN's FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 225 

nobody, and only enter upon the waste domain ; that they 
give additional value to the public lands in their vicinity, 
and their intention ultimately to pay the government prices. 
So much weight has from time to time been attached to 
these considerations, that Congress have passed laws giving 
actual settlers on the public lands a right of preemption to 
the tracts occupied by them, at the minimum price. 

These laws have in all instances been retrospective in 
their operations; but in a few years after their passage, 
crowds of new settlers have been found on the public 
lands, for similar reasons, and under like expectations, 
who have been indulged with the same privilege. This 
course of legislation tends to impair public respect for the 
laws of the country. Either the laws to prevent intrusion 
upon the public lands should be executed, or, if that 
should be impracticable or inexpedient, they should be 
modified or repealed. If the public lands are to be con- 
sidered as open to be occupied by any, they should, by 
law, be thrown open to all. 

That which is intended, in all instances, to be legalized, 
should at once be made legal, that those who are disposed 
to conform to the laws, may enjoy at least equal privileges 
with those who are not. But it is not believed to be the 
disposition of Congress to open the public lands to occu- 
pancy without regular entries and payment of the govern- 
ment price, as such a course must tend to worse evils than 
the credit system, which it was found necessary to abolish. 

It would seem, therefore, to be the part of wisdom and 
sound policy to remove, as far as practicable, the causes 
which produce intrusions upon the public lands, and then 
take efficient steps to prevent them in future. Would any 
single measure be so effective in removing all plausible 
grounds for these intrusions as the graduation of price 
already suggested 1 A short period of industry and econ- 
omy in any part of our country would enable the poorest 
citizen to accumulate the means to buy him a home at the 
lowest prices, and leave him without apology for settling 
on lands not his own. If he did not, under such circum- 
stances, he would enlist no sympathy in his favor ; and the 
laws would be readily executed without doing violence to 
public opinion. 



226 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

A large portion of our citizens have seated themselves 
on the public lands, without authority, since the passage 
of the last preemption law, and now ask the enactment of 
another, to enable them to retain the lands occupied, upon 
payment of the minimum government price. They ask 
that which has been repeatedly granted before. If the 
future may be judged of by the past, little harm can be done 
to the interests of the treasury by yielding to their request. 
Upon a critical examination, it is found that the lands sold 
at the public sales since the introduction of cash payments 
in 1820, have produced, on an average, the net revenue of 
only six cents on an acre more than the minimum go\ em- 
inent price. There is no reason to suppose that future sales 
will be more productive. The government, therefore, has 
no adequate pecuniary interest to induce it to drive those 
people from the lands they occupy, for the purpose of sell- 
ing them to others. 

Entertaining these views, I recommend the passage of a 
preemption law for their benefit, in connection with the 
preparatory steps towards the graduation of the price of 
the public lands, and further and more effectual provisions 
to prevent intrusions hereafter. Indulgence to those who 
have settled on these- lands with expectations that past 
legislation would be made a rule for the future, and at 
the same time removing the most plausible ground on 
which intrusions are excused, and adopting more efficient 
means to prevent them hereafter, appears to me the most 
judicious disposition which can be made of this difficult 
subject. 

The limitations and restrictions to guard against abuses 
in the execution of the preemption law, will necessarily 
attract the attention of Congress; but under no circum- 
stances is it considered expedient to authorize floating 
claims in any shape. They have been heretofore, and doubt- 
less would be hereafter, most prolific sources of fraud and 
oppression, and instead of operating to confer the favor of 
the government on industrious settlers, are often used only 
to minister to a spirit of cupidity at the expense of the most 
meritorious of that class. 

The accompanying report of the secretary of war will 
bring to your view the state of the army, and all the va- 



VAN BUREN's FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 227 

rious subjects confided to the superintendence of that 
officer. 

The principal part of the army has been concentrated in 
Florida, with a view and in the expectation of bringing the 
war in that territory to a speedy close. The necessity of 
stripping the posts on the maritime and inland frontiers of 
their entire garrisons, for the purpose of assembling in the 
field an army of less than four thousand men, would seem 
to indicate the necessity of increasing our regular forces ; 
and the superior efficiency, as well as greatly diminished 
expense, of that description of troops, recommend this 
measure as one of economy, as well as of expediency. I 
refer to the report for the reasons which have induced the 
secretary of war to urge the reorganization and enlarge- 
ment of the staff of the army, and of the ordnance corps, 
in which I fully concur. 

It is not, however, compatible with the interest of the 
people to maintain, in time of peace, a regular force ad- 
equate to the defence of our extensive frontiers. In pe- 
riods of danger and alarm, we must rely principally upon 
a well-organized militia; and some general arrangement 
that will render this description of force more efficient, has 
long been a subject of anxious solicitude. It was recom- 
mended to the first Congress by General Washington, and 
has since been frequently brought to your notice, and re- 
cently its importance strongly urged by my immediate pred- 
ecessor. 

The provision in the constitution that renders it neces- 
sary to adopt a uniform system of organization for the 
militia throughout the United States, presents an insur- 
mountable obstacle to an efficient arrangement by the 
classification heretofore proposed, and I invite your atten- 
tion to the plan which will be submitted by the secretary 
of war, for the organization of the volunteer corps, and the 
instruction of militia officers, as more simple and practica- 
ble, if not equally advantageous, as a general arrangement 
of the whole militia of the United States. 

A moderate increase of the corps both of military and 
topographical engineers, has been more than once recom- 
mended by my predecessor, and my conviction of the pro- 
priety, not to say necessity, of the measure, in order to 



228 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

enable them to perform the various and important duties 
imposed upon them, induces me to repeat the recommen- 
dation. 

The Military Academy continues to answer all the 
purposes of its establishment, and not only furnishes well- 
educated officers of the army, but serves to diffuse through- 
out the mass of our citizens, individuals possessed of mil- 
itary knowledge, and the scientific attainments of civil and 
military engineering. At present, the cadet is bound, with 
the consent of his parents or guardians, to remain in ser- 
vice five years from the period of his enlistment, unless 
sooner discharged, thus exacting only one year's service in 
the army after his education is completed. This does not 
appear to me sufficient. Government ought to command 
for a longer period the services of those who are educated 
at the public expense: and I recommend that the term of 
enlistment be extended to seven years, and the terms of the 
engagement strictly enforced. 

The creation of a national foundery for cannon, to be 
common to the service of the army and navy of the United 
States, has been heretofore recommended, and appears to 
be required, in order to place our ordnance on an equal 
footing with that of other countries, and to enable that 
branch of the service to control the prices of those arti- 
cles, and graduate the supplies to the wants of the gov- 
ernment, as well as to regulate their quality and insure 
their uniformity. 

The same reasons induce me to recommend the erection 
of a manufactory of gunpowder, to be under the direction 
of the ordnance office. The establishment of a manufac- 
tory of small arms west of the Alleghany Mountains, upon 
the plan proposed by the secretary of war, will contribute 
to extend throughout that country the improvements which 
exist in establishments of a similar description in the At- 
lantic states, and tend to a much more economical distri- 
bution of the armament required in the western portion of 
our Union. 

The system of removing the Indians west of the Mis- 
sissippi, commenced by Mr. Jefferson, in 1804, has been 
steadily persevered in by every succeeding President, 
and may be considered the settled policy of the country. 



VAN BUREN'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 229 

Unconnected at first with any well-defined system for 
their improvement, the inducements held out to the In- 
dians were confined to the greater abundance of game to 
be found in the west ; but when the beneficial effects of 
their removal were made apparent, a more philanthropic 
and enlightened policy was adopted, in purchasing their 
lands east of the Mississippi. Liberal prices were given, 
and provisions inserted in all the treaties with them for 
the application of the fands they received in exchange, to 
such purposes as were best calculated to promote their 
present welfare, and advance their future civilization. 
These measures have been attended thus far with the 
happiest results. 

It will be seen, by referring to the report of the Com- 
missioner of Indian Affairs, that the most sanguine expec- 
tations of the friends and promoters of this system have 
been realized. The Choctaws, Cherokees, and other 
tribes that first emigrated beyond the Mississippi, have, 
for the most part, abandoned the hunter state, and become 
cultivators of the soil. The improvement of their con- 
dition has been rapid, and it is believed that they are 
now fitted to enjoy the advantages of a simple form of gov- 
ernment, which has been submitted to them, and received 
their sanction ; and I cannot too strongly urge this sub- 
ject upon the attention of Congress. 

Stipulations have been made with all the Indian tribes 
to remove them beyond the Mississippi, except with the 
band of the Wyandotts, the Six Nations, in New York, 
the Menomonees, Mandans, and Stockbridges, in Wis- 
consin, and Miamies, in Indiana. With all but the Me- 
nomonees, it is expected that arrangements for their emi- 
gration will be completed the present year. The resist- 
ance which has been opposed to their removal by some 
tribes, even after treaties had been made with them to 
that effect, has arisen from various causes, operating dif- 
ferently on each of them. 

In most instances, they have been instigated to resist- 
ance by persons to whom the trade with them and the ac- 
quisition of their annuities were important ; and in some 
by the personal influence of interested chiefs. These ob- 
stacles must, be overcome ; for the government cannot 
20 



230 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

relinquish the execution of this policy without sacrificing 
important interests, and abandoning the tribes remaining 
east of the Mississippi to certain destruction. 

The decrease in numbers of the tribes within the limits 
of the states and territories has been most rapid. If they 
be removed, they can be protected from those associations 
and evil practices which exert so pernicious and destruc- 
tive an influence over their destinies. They can be in- 
duced to labor, and to acquire property, and its acquisition 
will inspire them with a feeling of independence. Their 
minds can be cultivated, and they can be taught the value 
of salutary and uniform laws, and be made sensible of the 
blessings of free government, and capable of enjoying its 
advantages. 

In the possession of property, knowledge, and a good 
government, free to give what direction they please to 
their labor, and sharers in the legislation by which their 
persons and the profits of their industry are to be pro- 
tected and secured, they will have an ever-present con- 
viction of the importance of union, of peace among 
themselves, and of the preservation of amicable relations 
with us. 

The interests of the United States would also be greatly 
promoted by freeing the relations between the general and 
state governments from what has proved a most embar- 
rassing encumbrance, by a satisfactory adjustment of con- 
flicting titles to lands, caused by the occupation of the 
Indians, and by causing the resources of the whole coun- 
try to be developed by the power of the state and general 
governments, and improved by the enterprise of a white 
population. 

Intimately connected with this subject is the obligation 
of the government to fulfil its treaty stipulations, and to 
protect the Indians thus assembled " at their new residence 
from all interruptions and disturbances from any other 
tribes or nations of Indians, or from any other person or 
persons whatsoever," and the equally solemn obligation to 
guard from Indian hostilities its own border settlements 
stretching along a line of more than one thousand miles. 
To enable the government to redeem their pledge to the 
Indians, and to afford adequate protection to its own citi- 



VAN BUIIEn's FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 231 

zens, will require the continual presence of a considerable 
regular force on the frontiers, and the establishment of a 
chain of permanent posts. Examinations of the Country 
are now making, with a view to decide on the most suit- 
able points for the erection of fortresses and other works 
of defence, the results of which will be presented to you 
by the secretary of war at an early day, together with a 
plan for the effectual protection of friendly Indians, and 
the permanent defence of the frontier states. 

By the report of the secretary of the navy, herewith 
communicated, it appears that unremitted exertions have 
been made at the different navy-yards, to carry into effect 
all authorized measures for the extension and employment 
of our naval force. The launching and preparation of 
the ship of the line Pennsylvania, and the complete repairs 
of the ships of the line Ohio, Delaware, and Columbus, 
may be noticed, as forming a respectable addition to this 
important arm of our national defence. Our commerce 
and navigation have received increased aid and protection 
during the present year. Our squadrons in the Pacific 
and on the Brazilian stations have been much increased, 
and that in the Mediterranean, although small, is adequate 
to the present wants of our commerce in that sea. Addi- 
tions have been made to our squadron on the West India 
station, where the large force under Commodore Dallas 
has been most actively and efficiently employed in protect- 
ing our commerce, in preventing the importation of slaves, 
and in cooperating with the officers of the army in carry- 
ing on the war in Florida. 

The satisfactory condition of our naval force abroad 
leaves at our disposal the means of conveniently providing 
for a home squadron, for the protection of commerce upon 
our extensive coast. The amount of appropriations re- 
quired for such a squadron will be found in the general 
estimates for the naval service, for the year 1838. 

The naval officers engaged upon our coast survey, have 
rendered important service to our navigation. The dis- 
covery of a new channel into the harbor of New York, 
through which our largest ships may pass without danger, 
must afford important commercial advantages to that har- 
bor, and add greatly to its value as a naval station. The 



232 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

accurate survey of George's Shoals, off the coast of Mas- 
sachusetts, lately completed, will render comparatively safe 
a navigation hitherto considered dangerous. 

Considerable additions have been made to the number 
of captains, commanders, lieutenants, surgeons, and assist- 
ant surgeons in the navy. These additions were rendered 
necessary, by the increased number of vessels put in com- 
mission, to answer the exigencies of our growing commerce. 

Your attention is respectfully invited to the various 
suggestions of the secretary, for the improvement of the 
naval service. 

The report of the postmaster-general exhibits the prog- 
ress and condition of the mail service. The operations 
of the post-office department constitute one of the most 
active elements of our national prosperity, and it is grati- 
fying to observe with what vigor they are conducted. 
The mail routes of the United States cover an extent of 
about one hundred and forty-two thousand eight hundred 
and seventy-seven miles, having been increased about 
thirty-seven thousand one hundred and three miles within 
the last two years. 

The annual mail transportation on these routes is about 
36,228,962 miles, having been increased about 10,359,476 
miles within the same period. The number of postoffices 
has also .been increased from 10,770 to 12,099, very few 
of which receive the mails less than once a week, and a 
large portion of them daily. Contractors and postmasters 
in general are represented as attending to their duties with 
most commendable zeal and fidelity. 

The revenue of the department within the year ending 
on the 30th of June last, was $4,137,066 59; and its lia- 
bilities accruing within the same time, were $3,380,847 75. 
The increase of revenue over that of the preceding year, 
was $708,166 41. 

For many interesting details, I refer you to the report 
of the postmaster-general, with the accompanying paper. 
Your particular attention is invited to the necessity of 
providing a more safe and convenient building for the ac- 
commodation of the department. 

I lay before Congress copies of reports, submitted in 
pursuance of a call made by me upon the heads of depart- 



VAN BUREN'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 233 

ments, for such suggestions as their experience might 
enable them to make, as to what further legislative pro- 
visions may be advantageously adopted to secure the faithful 
application of public money to the objects for which they 
are appropriated; to prevent their misapplication or em- 
bezzlement by those intrusted with the expenditure of 
them ; and generally to increase the security of the gov- 
ernment against losses in their disbursement. It is needless 
to dilate on the importance of providing such new safe- 
guards as are within the power of legislation to promote 
these ends ; and I have little to add to the recommendations 
submitted in the accompanying papers. 

By law, the terms of service of our most important col- 
lecting and disbursing officers in the civil departments, are 
limited to four years, and when reappointed their bonds 
are required to be renewed. The safety of the public is 
much increased by this feature of the law, and there can be 
no doubt that its application to all officers intrusted with the 
collection or disbursement of the public money, whatever 
may be the tenure of their offices, would be equally bene- 
ficial. I therefore recommend, in addition to such of the 
suggestions presented by the heads of department as you 
may think useful, a general provision that all officers of 
the army or navy, or in the civil department, intrusted with 
the receipt or payment of the public money, and whose 
term of service is either unlimited or for a longer time than 
four years, be required to give bonds, with good and suffi- 
cient securities, at the expiration of every such period. 

A change in the period of terminating the fiscal year, 
from the 1st of October to the 1st of April, has been 
frequently recommended, and appears to be desirable. 

The distressing casualties in steamboats, which have so 
frequently happened, during the year, seem to evince the 
necessity of attempting to prevent them by means of se- 
vere provisions connected with their custom-house papers. 
This subject was submitted to the attention of Congress by 
the secretary of the treasury, in his last annual report, and 
will be again noticed at the present session, with addi- 
tional details. It will doubtless receive that early and 
careful consideration which its pressing importance ap- 
pears to require. 
20* 



234 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

Your attention has heretofore been frequently called to 
the affairs of the District of Columbia, and I should not 
again ask it, did not their entire dependence on Congress 
give them a constant claim upon its notice. Separated 
by the constitution from the rest of the Union, limited in 
extent, and aided by no legislature of its own, it would 
seem to be a spot where a wise and uniform system of 
local government might have been easily adopted. 

This district, however, unfortunately, has been left to 
linger behind the rest of the Union ; its codes, civil and 
criminal, are not only very defective, but full of obsolete 
or inconvenient provisions ; being formed of portions of 
two states, discrepancies in the laws prevail in different 
parts of the territory, small as it is ; and although it was 
selected as the seat of the general government, the site 
of its public edifices, the depository of its archives, and 
the residence of officers intrusted with large amounts of 
public property, and the management of public business, 
yet it has never been subjected to, or received, that spe- 
cial and comprehensive legislation which these circum- 
stances peculiarly demand. 

I am well aware of the various subjects of greater mag- 
nitude and immediate interest, that press themselves on 
the consideration of Congress ; but I believe there is no 
one that appeals more directly to its justice, than a liberal 
and even generous attention to the interests of the District 
of Columbia, and a thorough and careful revision of its 
local government. 



HARRISON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

March 4, 1841. 

Called from a retirement which I had supposed was 
to continue for the residue of my life, to fill the chief ex- 
ecutive office of this great and free nation, I appear before 
you, fellow-citizens, to take the oaths which the constitu- 
tion prescribes as a necessary qualification for the per- 
formance of its duties. And in obedience with a custom 



HARRiSOiVS liNAUGURAL, ADDRESS. 235 

coeval with our government, and what I believe to be your 
expectations, I proceed to present to you a summary of 
the principles which will govern me in the discharge of 
the duties which I shall be called upon to perform. 

It was the remark of a Roman consul, in an early pe- 
riod of that celebrated republic, that a most striking con- 
trast was observable in the conduct of candidates for 
offices of power and trust, before and after obtaining them 
— they seldom carrying out, in the latter case, the pledges 
and promises made in the former. However much the 
world may have improved, in many respects, in the lapse 
of upwards of two thousand years since the remark was 
made by the virtuous and indignant Roman, I fear that a 
strict examination of the annals of some of the modern 
elective governments would develop similar instances of 
violated confidence. 

Although the fiat of the people has gone forth, pro- 
claiming me the chief magistrate of this glorious Union, 
nothing upon their part remaining to be done, it may be 
thought that a motive may exist to keep up the delusion 
under which they may be supposed to have acted in rela- 
tion to my principles and opinions ; and perhaps- there 
may be some in this assembly, who have come here either 
prepared to condemn those I shall now deliver, or, ap- 
proving them, to doubt the sincerity with which they are 
uttered. But the lapse of a few months will confirm or 
dispel their fears. The outline of principles to govern, 
and measures to be adopted by an administration not yet 
begun, will soon be exchanged for immutable history, and 
I shall stand either exonerated by my countrymen, or 
classed with the mass of those who promised that they 
might deceive, and flattered with the intention to betray. 

However strong may be my present purpose to realize 
the expectations of a magnanimous and confiding people, 
I too well understand the infirmities of human nature, and 
the dangerous temptations to which I shall be exposed, 
from the magnitude of the power which it has been the 
pleasure of the people to commit to my hands, not to place 
my chief confidence upon the aid of that Almighty Power 
which has hitherto protected me, and enabled me to bring 



236 THE AMEElCAJN POLITICIAN. 

to favorable issues other important but still greatly inferior 
trusts heretofore confided to me by my country, 

The broad foundation upon which our constitution rests 
being the people — a breath of theirs having made, as a 
breath can unmake, change, or modify it — it can be as- 
signed to none of the great divisions of government, but 
to that of democracy. If such is its theory, those who 
are called upon to administer it, must recognize, as its 
leading principle, the duty of shaping their measures, so as 
to produce the greatest good to the greatest number. But, 
with these broad admissions, if we would compare the 
sovereignty acknowledged to exist in the mass of the peo- 
ple with the power claimed by other sovereignties, even 
by those which had been considered most purely demo- 
cratic, we shall find a most essential difference. All 
others lay claim to power limited only by their own will. 
The majority of our citizens, on the contrary, possess a 
sovereignty, with an amount of power precisely equal to 
that which has been granted to them by the parties to the 
national compact, and nothing beyond. 

We admit of no government by divine right ; believing 
that, so far as power is concerned, the beneficent Creator 
has made no distinction among men, that all are upon an 
equality, and that the only legitimate right to govern is 
an express grant of power from the governed. The con- 
stitution of the United States is the instrument containing 
this grant of power to the several departments composing 
the government. On an examination of that instrument, 
it will be found to contain declarations of power granted 
and power withheld. The latter is also susceptible of di- 
vision into power which the majority had a right to grant, 
but which they did not think proper to intrust to their 
agents, and that which they could not have granted, not 
being possessed by themselves. In other words, there are 
certain rights possessed by each individual American citi- 
zen, which, in his compact with the others, he has never 
surrendered. Some of them, indeed, he is unable to sur- 
render, being, in the language of our system, inalienable. 

The boasted privilege of a Roman citizen was to him 
a shield only against a petty provincial ruler, whilst the 



Harrison's inaugural address. 237 

proud democrat of Athens could console himself under a 
sentence of death, for a supposed violation of national 
faith, which no one understood, and which at times was 
the subject of the mockery of all, or banishment from his 
home, his family, and his country, with or without an 
alleged cause, — that it was not the act of a single tyrant, 
or hated aristocracy, but of his assembled countrymen. 
Far different is the power of our sovereignty. It can 
interfere with no man's faith, prescribe forms of worship 
for no one's observance, inflict no punishment but after 
well-ascertained guilt, the result of investigation under 
forms prescribed by the constitution itself. These pre- 
cious privileges, and those, scarcely less important, of 
giving expression to his thoughts and opinions, either 
by writing or speaking, unrestrained but by the liability 
of injury to others, and that of a full participation in all 
the advantages which flow from the government, the 
acknowledged property of all, — the American citizen re- 
ceives from no charter derived from his fellow-man. 
He claims them, because he is himself a man, fashioned 
by the same almighty hand as the rest of his species, 
and entitled to the same blessings with which He has 
endowed them. 

Notwithstanding the limited sovereignty possessed by 
the people of the United States, and the restricted grant 
of power to the government which they have adopted, 
enough has been given to accomplish all the objects for 
which it was created. It has been found powerful in 
war, and, hitherto, justice has been administered, an inti- 
mate union effected, domestic tranquillity preserved, and 
personal liberty secured to the citizen. As was to be ex- 
pected, however, from the defect of language, and the ne- 
cessarily sententious manner in which the constitution is 
written, disputes have arisen as to the amount of power 
which it has actually granted, or was intended to grant. 
This is more particularly the case in relation to that part 
of the instrument which treats of the legislative branch; 
and not only as regards the exercise of powers, claimed 
under a general clause, giving that body the authority to 
carry into effect the specified powers, but in relation to 
the latter also. It is ; however, consolatory to reflect that 



238 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

most of the instances of alleged departure from the letter 
or spirit of the constitution, have ultimately received the 
sanction of a majority of the people. And the fact that 
many of our statesmen, most distinguished for talent and 
patriotism, have been, at one time or other of their politi- 
cal career, on both sides of each of the most warmly dispu- 
ted questions, forces upon us the inference that the errors, 
if errors there were, are attributable to the intrinsic diffi- 
culty, in many instances, of ascertaining the intention of 
the framers of the constitution, rather than the influence 
of any sinister or unpatriotic motives. 

But the great danger to our institutions does not appear 
to me to be in a usurpation, by the government, of power 
not granted by the people, but by the accumulation, in one 
of the departments, of that which was assigned to others. 
Limited as are the powers which have been granted, they 
are sufficient to constitute a despotism, if concentrated in 
one of the departments. This danger is greatly heightened, 
as it has always been observable that men are less jealous 
of encroachments of one department upon another than 
upon their own reserved rights. 

When the constitution of the United States first came 
from the hands of the convention which formed it, many 
of the sternest republicans of the da^ were alarmed at the 
extent of the power which had been granted to the federal 
government, and more particularly to that portion which 
had been assigned to the executive branch. There were 
in it features which appeared not to be in harmony with 
their ideas of a simple representative democracy or re- 
public. * And knowing the tendency of power to increase 
itself, particularly when executed by a single individual, 
predictions were made that, at no very remote period, 
the government would terminate in virtual monarchy. It 
would not become me to say that the fears of these patriots 
have been already realized. But, as I sincerely believe that 
the tendency of measures and of men's opinions, for some 
years past, has been in that direction, it is, I conceive, 
strictly proper that I should take this occasion to repeat 
the assurances I have heretofore given, of my determina- 
tion to arrest the progress of that tendency if it really ex- 
ists, and restore the government to its pristine health and 



Harrison's inaugural address. 239 

vigor, as far as this can be effected by any legitimate ex- 
ercise of the power placed in my hands. 

I proceed to state, in as summary manner as I can, my 
opinion of the sources of the evils which have been so 
extensively complained of, and the correctives which 
may be applied. Some of the former are unquestionably 
to be found in the defects of the constitution ; others, in 
my opinion, are attributable to a misconstruction of some 
of its provisions. Of the former is the eligibility of the 
same individual to a second term of the presidency. The 
sagacious mind of Mr. Jefferson early saw and lamented 
this error, and attempts have been made, hitherto without 
success, to apply the amendatory power of the states to 
its correction. 

As, however, one mode of correction is in the power of 
every President, and consequently in mine, it would be 
useless, and perhaps invidious, to enumerate the evils of 
which, in the opinion of many of our fellow-citizens, this 
error of the sages who framed the constitution may have 
been the source, and the bitter fruits which we are still 
to gather from it, if it continues to disfigure our system. 
It may be observed, however, as a general remark, that 
republics can commit no greater error than to adopt or 
continue any feature in their systems of government 
which may be calculated to create or increase the love of 
power in the bosoms of those to whom necessity obliges 
them to commit the management of their affairs. And 
surely nothing is more likely to produce such a state of 
mind than the long continuance of an office of high trust. 
Nothing can be more corrupting, nothing more destructive 
to all those nobler feelings which belong to the character 
of a devoted republican patriot. When this corrupting 
passion once takes possession of the human mind, like the 
love of gold, it becomes insatiable. It is the never-dying 
worm in his bosom, grows with his growth, and strengthens 
with the declining years of its victim. If this is true, it is 
the part of wisdom for a republic to limit the service of 
that officer, at least, to whom she has intrusted the man- 
agement of her foreign relations, the execution of her laws, 
and the command of her armies and navies, to a period so 
short ns to prevent his forgetting that he is an accounta- 



240 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

ble agent, not the principal — the servant, not the master, 
Until an amendment of the constitution can be effected, 
public opinion may secure the desired object. I give 
my aid to it by renewing the pledge heretofore given, 
that under no circumstances will I consent to serve a 
second term. 

But if there is danger to public liberty from the ac- 
knowledged defect of the constitution, in the want of limit 
to the continuance of the executive power in the same 
hands, there is, I apprehend, not much less from a mis- 
construction of the instrument, as it regards the powers 
actually given. I cannot conceive that, by a fair con- 
struction, any or either of its provisions would be found 
to constitute the President a part of the legislative power. 
It cannot be claimed from the power to recommend, since, 
although enjoined as a duty upon him, it is a duty he holds 
in common with every other citizen. And although there 
may be something more of confidence in the propriety of 
the measures recommended in the one case than in the 
other, in the obligations of ultimate decision there can be 
no difference. In the language of the constitution, " all 
the legislative powers" which it grants " are vested in the 
Congress of the United States." It would be a solecism in 
language to say that any portion of these is not included in 
the whole. 

It may be said, indeed, that the constitution has given 
to the executive the power to annul the acts of the legisla- 
tive body, by refusing to them his assent. So a similar 
power has -necessarily resulted from that instrument to the 
judiciary, and yet the judiciary forms no part of the legis- 
lature. There is, it is true, this difference between these 
grants of power; the executive can put his negative upon 
the acts of the legislature for other cause than that of want 
of conformity to the constitution, while the judiciary can 
only declare void those which violate that instrument. 
But the decision of the judiciary is final in such a case, 
whereas, in every instance where the veto of the executive 
is applied, it may be overcome by a vote of two thirds of 
both houses of Congress. The negative upon the acts of 
the legislative, by the executive authority, and that in the 
hands of one individual, would seem to be an incongruity 



Harrison's inaugural address. 241 

in our system. Like some others of a similar character, 
however, it appears to be highly expedient, and if used 
only with the forbearance and in the spirit which was in- 
tended by its authors, it may be productive of great good, 
and be found one of the best safeguards to the Union. 

At the period of the formation of the constitution, the 
principle does not appear to have enjoyed much favor in 
the state governments. It existed but in two, and in one 
of these there was a plural executive. If we would search 
for the motives which operated upon the purely patriotic 
and enlightened assembly which framed the constitution, 
for the adoption of a provision so apparently repugnant to 
the leading democratic principle, that the majority should 
govern, we must reject the idea that they anticipated from 
it any benefit to the ordinary course of legislation. They 
knew too well the high degree of intelligence which existed 
among the people, and the enlightened character of the 
state legislatures, not to have the fullest confidence that 
the two bodies elected by them would be worthy represen- 
tatives of such constituents, and, of course, that they would 
require no aid in conceiving and maturing the measures 
which the circumstances of the country might require. And 
it is preposterous to suppose that a thought could for a mo- 
ment have been entertained that the President, placed at 
the capitol in the centre of the country, could better under- 
stand the. wants and wishes of the people than their own 
immediate representatives, who spend a part of every year 
among them, living with them, often laboring with them, 
and bound to them by the triple tie of interest, duty, and 
affection. 

To assist or control Congress, then, in its ordinary legis- 
lation, could not, I conceive, have been the motive for con- 
ferring the veto power on the President. This argument 
acquires additional force from the fact, of its never having 
been thus used by the first six Presidents — and two of 
them were members of the convention, one presiding over 
its deliberations, and the other having a larger share in 
consummating the labors of that august body than any 
other person. But if bills were never returned to Con- 
gress by either of the Presidents above referred to, upon 
the ground of their being inexpedient, or not as well 
21 



242 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

adapted as they might be to the wants of the people, the 
veto was applied upon that of want of conformity to the 
constitution, or because errors had been committed from a 
too hasty enactment. 

There is another ground for the adoption of the veto 
principle, which had probably more influence in recom- 
mending it to the convention than any other : I refer to 
the security which it gives to the just and equitable action 
of the legislature upon all parts of the Union. It could 
not but have occurred to the convention, that in a country 
so extensive, embracing so great a variety of soil and cli- 
mate, and consequently of products, and which, from the 
same causes, must ever exhibit a great difference in the 
amount of the population of its various sections, calling for 
a great diversity in the employments of the people, — that 
the legislation of the majority might not always justly regard 
the rights and interests of the minority ; and that acts of 
this character might be passed, under an express grant by 
the words of the constitution, and, therefore, not within 
the competency of the judiciary to declare void ; that how- 
ever enlightened and patriotic they might suppose, from 
past experience, the members of Congress might be, and 
however largely partaking, in the general, of the liberal 
feelings of the people, it was impossible to expect that 
bodies so constituted should not sometimes be controlled 
by local interests and sectional feeling. It was proper, 
therefore, to provide some umpire, from whose situation 
and mode of appointment, more independence and freedom 
from such influences might be expected. Such a one was 
afforded by the executive department, constituted by the 
constitution. A person elected to that high office, having 
his constituents in every section, state, and subdivision of 
the Union, must consider himself bound by the most solemn 
sanctions to guard, protect, and defend the rights of all, 
and every portion, great or small, from the injustice and 
oppression of the rest. 

I consider the veto power, therefore, given by the con- 
stitution to the executive of the United States, solely as a 
conservative power ; to be used only, 1st, to protect the 
constitution from violation ; 2dly, the people from the ef- 
fects of hastv legislation, where their will has been proba- 



Harrison's inaugural address. 243 

bly disregarded, or not well understood; and, 3dly, to 
prevent the effects of combinations violative of the rights 
of minorities. In reference to the second of these objects, 
I may observe that I consider it the right and privilege of 
the people to decide disputed points of the constitution, 
arising from the general grant of power to Congress to car- 
ry into effect the powers expressly given. And I believe, 
with Mr. Madison, " that repeated recognitions under varied 
circumstances, in acts of the legislative, executive, and judi- 
cial branches of the government, accompanied by indica- 
tions, in different modes, of the concurrence of the general 
will of the nation, as affording to the President sufficient au- 
thority for his considering such disputed points as settled." 

Upward of half a century has elapsed since the adoption 
of our present form of government. It would be an object 
more highly desirable than the gratification of the curiosity 
of speculative statesmen, if its precise situation could be 
ascertained, a fair exhibit made of the operations of each 
of its departments, of the powers which they respectively 
claim and exercise, of the collisions which have occurred 
between them, or between the whole government * and 
those of the states, or either of them. We could then 
compare our actual condition, after fifty years' trial of 
our system, with what it was in the commencement of 
its operations, and ascertain whether the predictions of 
the patriots who opposed its adoption, or the confident 
hopes of its advocates, have been best realized. The great 
dread of the former seems to have been, that the reserved 
powers of the states would be absorbed by those of the 
federal government, and a consolidated power established, 
leaving to the states the shadow, only, of that independent 
action for which they had so zealously contended, and on 
the preservation of which they relied as the last hope of 
liberty. 

Without denying that the result to which they looked 
with so much apprehension is in the way of being realized, 
it is obvious that they did not clearly see the mode of its 
accomplishment. The general government has seized 
upon none of the reserved rights of the states. As far as 
any open warfare may have gone, the state authorities have 
amply maintained their rights. To a casual observer, our 



244 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

system presents no appearance of discord between the dif- 
ferent members which compose it. Even the addition of 
many new ones has produced no jarring. They move in 
their respective orbits in perfect harmony with each other. 
But there is still an under-current at work, by which, if 
not seasonably checked, the worst apprehensions of our 
anti-federal patriots will be realized. And not only will 
the state authorities be overshadowed by the great increase 
of power in the executive department of the general gov- 
ernment, but the character of that government, if not its 
designation, be essentially and radically changed. This 
state of things has been in part effected by causes inherent 
in the constitution, and in part by the never-failing tenden- 
cy of political power to increase itself. 

By making the President the sole distributor of all the 
patronage of the government, the framers of the constitu- 
tion do not appear to have anticipated at how short a pe- 
riod it would become a formidable instrument to control 
the free operation of the state governments. Of trifling 
importance at first, it had, early in Mr. Jefferson's admin- 
istration, become so powerful as to create great alarm in 
the mind of that patriot from the potent influence it might 
exert in controlling the freedom of the elective franchise. 
If such could have been the effects of its influence then, 
how much greater must be the danger at this time, quad- 
rupled in amount, as it certainly is, and more completely 
under the control of the executive will, than their con- 
struction of their powers allowed, or the forbearing char- 
acters of all the early Presidents permitted them to make? 
But it is not by the extent of its patronage alone that the 
executive department has become dangerous, but by the 
use which it appears may be made of the appointing 
power, to bring under its control the whole revenues of 
the country. 

The constitution has declared it to be the duty of the 
President to see that the laws are executed, and it makes 
him commander-in-chief of the armies and navy of the 
United States. If the opinion of the most approved wri- 
ters upon that species of mixed government, which, in 
modern Europe, is termed monarchy, in contradistinction 
to despotism, is correct, there was wanting no other addi- 



Harrison's inaugural address. 245 

tion to the powers of our chief magistrate to stamp a 
monarchical character upon our government, but the con- 
trol of the public finances. And to me it appears strange, 
indeed, that any one should doubt that the entire control 
which the President possesses over the officers who have 
the custody of the public money, by the power of removal 
with or without cause, does, for all mischievous purposes 
at least, virtually subject the treasure also to his disposal. 
The first Roman emperor, in his attempt to seize the sa- 
cred treasure, silenced the opposition of the officer to 
whose charge it had been committed, by a significant 
allusion to his sword. By a selection of political instru- 
ments for the care of the public money, a reference to 
their commissions by a President would be quite as effec- 
tual an argument as that of Caesar to the Roman knight. 

I am not insensible of the great difficulty that exists in 
devising a plan for the safe-keeping and disbursement of 
the public revenues, and I know the importance which 
has been attached by men of great abilities and patriotism 
to the divorce, as it is called, of the treasury from the 
banking institutions. It is not the divorce which is 
complained of, but the unhallowed union of the treasury 
with the executive department, which has created such 
extensive alarm. To this danger to our republican in- 
stitutions, and that created by the influence given to the 
executive through the instrumentality of the federal offi- 
cers, I propose to apply all the remedies which may be at 
my command. It was certainly a great error in the 
framers of the constitution, not to have made the officer 
at the head of the treasury department entirely independ- 
ent of the executive. He should at least have been re- 
movable only upon the demand of the popular branch of 
the legislature. I have determined never to remove a 
secretary of the treasury without communicating all the 
circumstances attending such removal to both houses of 
Congress. 

The influence of the executive in controlling the free- 
dom of the elective franchise through the medium of the 
public officers can be effectually checked by renewing the 
prohibition published by Mr Jefferson, forbidding their 
interference in elections further than giving their own 
21* 



£46 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

votes ; and their own independence secured by an assur- 
ance of perfect immunity, in exercising this sacred privi- 
lege of freemen under the dictates of their own unbiased 
judgments. Never, with my consent, shall an officer of 
the people, compensated for his services out of their 
pockets, become the pliant instrument of executive will. 

There is no part of the means placed in the hands of 
the executive which might be used with greater effect, 
for unhallowed purposes, than the control of the public 
press. The maxim which our ancestors derived from 
the mother country, that " the freedom of the press is the 
great bulwark of civil and religious liberty," is one of the 
most precious legacies which they have left us. We have 
learned, too, from our own, as well as the experience of 
other countries, that golden shackles, by whomsoever, or 
by whatever pretence imposed, are as fatal to it as the 
iron bonds of despotism. The presses in the necessary 
employment of government should never be used to 
" clear the guilty or to varnish crimes." A decent and 
manly examination of the acts of the government should 
be not only tolerated, but encouraged. 

Upon another occasion, I have given my opinion, at 
some length, upon the impropriety of executive interfer- 
ence in the legislation of Congress; that the article in 
the constitution making it the duty of the President to 
communicate information, and authorizing him to recom- 
mend measures, was not intended to make him the source 
of legislation, and, in particular, that he should never 
be looked to for schemes of finance. It would be very 
strange, indeed, that the constitution should have strictly 
forbidden one branch of the legislature from interfering 
in the origination of such bills, and that it should be con- 
sidered proper that an altogether different department of 
the government should be permitted to do so. Some of 
our best political maxims and opinions have been drawn 
from our parent isle. There are others, however, which 
cannot be introduced into our system without singular 
incongruity, and the production of much mischief. And 
this I conceive to be one. No matter in which of the 
houses of Parliament a bill may originate, nor by whom 
introduced, a minister, or a member of the opposition, by 



HARRISON S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 247 

the fiction of law, or rather of constitutional principle, the 
sovereign is supposed to have prepared it agreeably to his 
will, and then submitted it to Parliament for their advice 
and consent. 

Now, the very reverse is the case here, not only with 
regard to the principle, but the forms prescribed by the 
constitution. The principle certainly assigns to the only 
body constituted by the constitution (the legislative body) 
the power to make laws, and the forms even direct that 
the enactment should be ascribed to them. The Senate, 
in relation to revenue bills, have the right to propose 
amendments ; and so has the executive, by the power 
given him to return them to the House of Representatives, 
with his objections. It is in his power, also, to propose 
amendments in the existing revenue laws, suggested by 
his observations upon their defective or injurious opera- 
tion. But the delicate duty of devising schemes of reve- 
nue should be left where the constitution has placed it, 
with the immediate representatives of the people. For 
similar reasons, the mode of keeping the public treasure 
should be prescribed by them ; and the farther removed it 
may be from the control of the executive, the more whole- 
some in arrangement, and the more in accordance with 
republican principles. 

Connected with this subject is the character of the cur- 
rency. The idea of making it exclusively metallic, how- 
ever well intended, appears to me to be fraught with more 
fatal consequences than any other scheme, having no rela- 
tion to the personal rights of the citizen, that has ever 
been devised. If any single scheme could produce the 
effect of arresting, at once, that mutation of condition by 
which thousands of our most indigent fellow-citizens, by 
their industry and enterprise, are raised to the possession 
of wealth, that is one. If there is one measure better 
calculated than another to produce that state of things so 
much deprecated by all true republicans, by which the 
rich are daily adding to their hoards, and the poor sinking 
deeper into penury, it is an exclusive metallic currency. 
Or if there is a process by which the character of the 
country for generosity and nobleness of feeling may be 



248 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

destroyed by the great increase and necessary toleration 
of usury, it is an exclusive metallic currency. 

Amongst the other duties of a delicate character which 
the President is called upon to perform, is the supervision 
of the government of the territories of the United States. 
Those of them which are destined to become members of 
our great political family, are compensated by their rapid 
progress from infancy to manhood, for the partial and 
temporary deprivation of their political rights. 

It is in this district only, where American citizens are 
to be found, who, under a settled system of policy, are de- 
prived of many important political privileges, without any 
inspiring hope as to the future. Their only consolation 
under circumstances of such deprivation, is that of the 
devoted exterior guards of a camp- — that their sufferings 
secure tranquillity and safety within. Are there any of 
their countrymen who would subject them to greater sacri- 
fices, to any other humiliations, than those essentially 
necessary to the security of the object for which they were 
thus separated from their fellow-citizens ? Are their 
rights alone not to be guarantied by the application of 
those great principles, upon which all our constitutions 
are founded ? We are tcld by the greatest of British 
orators and statesmen, that y at the commencement of the 
war of the revolution, the most stupid men in England 
spoke of " their American subjects." Are there, indeed, 
citizens of any of our states who have dreamed of their 
subjects in the District of Columbia? Such dreams can 
never be realized by any agency of mine. 

The people of the District of Columbia are not the sub- 
jects of the people of the states, but free American citi- 
zens. Being in the latter condition when the constitution 
was formed, no words used in that instrument could have 
been intended to deprive them of that character. If there 
is any thing in the great principles of inalienable rights, 
so emphatically insisted upon in our Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, they could neither make, nor the United States 
accept, a surrender of their liberties, and become the sub- 
jects, in other words the slaves, of their former fellow-citi- 
zens. If this be true, — and it will scarcely be denied by any 



249 

one who has a correct idea of his own rights as an Ameri- 
can citizen, — the grant to Congress of exclusive jurisdic- 
tion in the District of Columbia, can be interpreted, so far 
as respects the aggregate people of the United Stites, as 
meaning nothing more than to allow Congress the con- 
trolling power necessary to afford a free and safe exercise 
of the functions assigned to the general government by 
the constitution. In all other respects, the legislation of 
Congress should be adapted to their peculiar condition and 
wants, and be conformable with their deliberate opinions 
of their own interests. 

I have spoken of the necessity of keeping the respective 
departments of the government, as well as all the other 
authorities of our country, within their appropriate orbits. 
This is a matter of difficulty in some cases, as the powers 
which they respectively claim are often not defined by very 
distinct lines. Mischievous, however, in their tendencies, 
as collisions of this kind may be, those which arise be- 
tween the respective communities, which for certain pur- 
poses compose one nation, are much more so ; for no such 
nition can long exist without the careful culture of those 
feelings of confidence and affection which are the effec- 
tive bonds of union between free and confederated stites. 
Strong as is the tie of interest, it has been often found in- 
effectual. Men, blinded by their passions, have been 
known to adopt measures for their country in direct oppo- 
sition to all the suggestions of policy. The "alternative, 
then, is, to keep down a bad passion by creating and fos- 
tering a good one ; and this seems to be the corner-stone 
upon which our American political architects have reared 
the fabric of our government. 

The cement which was to bind it, and perpetuate its 
existence, was the affectionate attachment between all its 
members. To insure the continuance of this feelingr, pro- 
duced at first by a community of dangers, of sufferings, 
and of interests, the advantages of each were made acces- 
sible to all. No participation in any good, possessed by 
any member of an extensive confederacy, except in do- 
mestic government, was withheld from the citizen of any 
other member. By a process attended with no difficulty, 
no delay, no expense but that of removal, the citizen of 



250 THE AxMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

the one might become the citizen of any other, and suc- 
cessively of the whole. The lines, too, separating powers 
to be exercised by the citizens of one state from those of 
another, seem to be so distinctly drawn as to leave no 
room for misunderstanding. The citizens of each state 
unite in their persons all the privileges which that char- 
acter confers, and all that they may claim as citizens of 
the United States ; but in no case can the same person, at 
the same time, act as the citizen of two separate states, 
and he is therefore positively precluded from any inter- 
ference with the reserved powers of any state, but that of 
which he is, for the time being, a citizen. He may, in- 
deed, offer to citizens of other states his advice as to their 
management, and the form in which it is tendered is left 
to his own discretion and sense of propriety. 

It may be observed, however, that organized associa- 
tions of citizens, requiring compliance with their wishes, 
too much resemble the recommendations of Athens to 
her allies — supported by an armed and powerful fleet. It 
was, indeed, to the ambition of the leading states of Greece 
to control the domestic concerns of the others, that the 
destruction of that celebrated confederacy, and subse- 
quently of all its members, is mainly to be attributed. 
And it is owing to the absence of that spirit that the Hel- 
vetic confederacy had been for so many years preserved. 
Never had .there been seen in the institutions of the sepa- 
rate members of any confederacy more elements of discord. 
In the principles and forms of government and religion, as 
well as in the circumstances of the several cantons, so 
marked a discrepancy was observable as to promise any 
thing but harmony in their intercourse, or permanency in 
their alliance. And yet, for ages, neither has been inter- 
rupted. Content with the positive benefits which their 
union produced, with the independence and safety from 
foreign aggression which it secured, these sagacious peo- 
ple respected the institutions of each other, however re- 
pugnant to their own principles and prejudices. 

Our confederacy, fellow-citizens, can only be preserved 
by the same forbearance. Our citizens must be content 
with the exercise of the powers with which the constitution 
clothes them. The attempt of those of one state to control 



Harrison's inaugural address. 251 

the domestic institutions of another, can only result in 
feelings of distrust and jealousy, the certain harbingers of 
disunion, violence, civil war, and the ultimate destruction 
of our free institutions. Our confederacy is perfectly 
illustrated by the terms and principles governing a common 
copartnership. There a fund of power is to be exercised 
under the direction of the joint councils of the allied mem- 
bers, but that which has been reserved by the individual 
members is intangible by the common government, or the 
individual members composing it. To attempt it finds no 
support in the principles of our constitution. It should be 
our constant and earnest endeavor mutually to cultivate a 
vspirit of concord and harmony among the various parts of 
our confederacy. Experience has abundantly taught us 
that the agitation, by citizens of one part of the Union, of 
a subject not confided to the general government, but ex- 
clusively under the guardianship of the local authorities, is 
productive of no other consequences than bitterness, alien- 
ation, discord, and injury to the very cause which is 
intended to be advanced. Of all the great interests which 
appertain to our country, that of union — cordial, confiding, 
fraternal union — is by far the most important, since it is 
the only true and sure guaranty of all others. 

In consequence of the embarrassed state of business and 
the currency, some of the states may meet with difficulty 
in their financial concerns. However deeply we may 
regret any thing imprudent or excessive in the engagements 
into which states have entered for purposes of their own, it 
does not become us to disparage the state governments, nor 
to discourage them from making proper efforts for their 
own relief; on the contrary, it is our duty to encourage 
them, to the extent of our constitutional authority, to apply 
their best means, and cheerfully to make all necessary 
sacrifices, and submit to all necessary burdens, to fulfil their 
engagements and maintain their credit ; for the character 
and credit of the several states form part of the character and 
credit of the whole country. The resources of the country 
are abundant, the enterprise and activity of our people 
proverbial ; and we may well hope that wise legislation 
and prudent administration, by the respective governments, 



252 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 



each acting within its own sphere, will restore former 
prosperity. 

Unpleasant and even dangerous as collisions may some- 
times be, between the constituted authorities or the citi- 
zens of our country, in relation to the lines which separate 
their respective jurisdictions, the results can be of no vital 
injury to our institutions, if that ardent patriotism, that 
devoted attachment to liberty, that spirit of moderation and 
forbearance for which our countrymen were once distin- 
guished, continue to be cherished. If this continues to be 
the ruling passion of our souls, the weaker feelings of the 
mistaken enthusiast will be corrected, the Utopian dreams 
of the scheming politician dissipated, and the complicated 
intrigues of the demagogue rendered harmless, The spirit 
of liberty is the sovereign balm for every injury which our 
institutions may receive. 

On the contrary, no care that can be used in the con- 
struction of our government, no division of powers, no 
distribution of checks in its departments, will prove effec- 
tual to keep us a free people, if this spirit is suffered to 
decay ; and decay it will without constant nurture. To the 
neglect of this duty, the best historians agree in attributing 
the ruin of all the republics with whose existence and fall 
their writings have made us acquainted. The same 
causes will ever produce the same effects ; and as long as 
the love of power is a dominant passion of the human 
besom, and as long as the understandings of men can be 
warped and their affections changed by operations upon 
their passions and prejudices, so long will the liberty of 
a perple depend on their own constant attention to its 
preservation. 

The danger to all well-established free governments 
arises from the unwillingness of the people to believe in 
its existence, or from the influence of designing men, di- 
verting their attention from the quarter whence it ap- 
proaches, to a source from which it can never come. This 
is the old trick of those who would usurp the government 
of their country. In the name of Democracy they speak, 
warning the people against the influence of wealth and 
the danger of aristocracy. History, ancient and modern, 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 253 

is full of such examples. Caesar became the master of 
the Roman people and the senate, under the pretence of 
supporting the democratic claims of the former against 
the aristocracy of the latter ; Cromwell, in the character 
of protector of the liberties of the people, became the dic- 
tator of England ; and Bolivar possessed himself of un- 
limited power with the title of his country's Liberator. 
There is, on the contrary, no single instance on record of 
an extensive and well-established republic being changed 
into an aristocracy. The tendency of all such govern- 
ments, in their decline, is to monarchy ; and the antago- 
nist principle to liberty there is the spirit of faction — a 
spirit which assumes the character, and, in times of great 
excitement, imposes itself upon the people as the genuine 
spirit of freedom, and like the false Christs whose coming 
was foretold by the Savior, seeks to, and, were it possible, 
would, impose upon the true and most faithful disciples 
of liberty. 

It is in periods like this, that it behoves the people to 
be most watchful of those to whom they have intrusted 
power. And although there is at times much difficulty 
in distinguishing the false from the true spirit, a calm and 
dispassionate investigation will detect the counterfeit as 
well by the character of its operations, as the results that 
are produced. The true spirit of liberty, although de- 
voted, persevering, bold, and uncompromising in prin- 
ciple, that secured, is mild and tolerant, scrupulous as to 
the means it employs ; whilst the spirit of party, assuming 
to be that of liberty, is harsh, vindictive, and intolerant, 
and totally reckless as to the character of the allies which 
it brings to the aid of its cause. When the genuine spirit 
of liberty animates the body of a people to a thorough ex- 
amination of their affairs, it leads to the excision of every 
excrescence which may have fastened itself upon any of 
the departments of the government, and restores the sys- 
tem to its pristine health and beauty. But the reign of an 
intolerant spirit of party amongst a free people, seldom 
fails to result in a dangerous accession to the executive 
power, introduced and established amidst unusual pro- 
fessions of devotion to democracy. 

The foregoing remarks relate almost exclusively to mat- 
22 



254 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

ters connected with our domestic concerns. It may be 
proper, however, that I should give some indications to my 
fellow-citizens of my proposed course of conduct in the 
management of our foreign relations. I assure them, 
therefore, that it is my intention to use every means in my 
power to preserve the friendly intercourse which now so 
happily subsists with every foreign nation ; and that al- 
though, of course, not well informed as to the state of any 
pending negotiations with any of them, I see in the per- 
sonal characters of the sovereigns, as well as in the mu- 
tual interests of our own and of the governments with 
which our relations are most intimate, a pleasing guaranty 
that the harmony so important to the interest of their sub- 
jects, as well as our citizens, will not be interrupted by 
the advancement of any claim or pretension, upon their 
part, to which our honor would not permit us to yield. 
Long the defender of my country's rights in the field, I 
trust that my fellow-citizens will not see in my earnest de- 
sire to preserve peace with foreign powers any indication 
that their rights will ever be sacrificed, or the honor of the 
nation tarnished, by any admission on the part of their 
chief magistrate unworthy of their former glory. 

In the intercourse with our aboriginal neighbors, the 
same liberality and justice which marked the course pre- 
scribed to me by two of my illustrious predecessors, when 
acting under their direction in the discharge of the duties 
of superintendent and commissioner, shall be strictly ob- 
served. I can conceive of no more sublime spectacle — 
none more likely to propitiate an impartial and common 
Creator — than a rigid adherence to the principles of jus- 
tice on the part of a powerful nation in its transactions 
with a weaker and uncivilized people, whom circum- 
stances have placed at its disposal. 

Before concluding, fellow-citizens, I must say some- 
thing to you on the subject of the parties at this time ex- 
isting in our country. To me it appears perfectly clear 
that the interest of that country requires that the violence 
of the spirit by which those parties are at this time gov- 
erned, must be greatly mitigated, if not entirely extin- 
guished, or consequences will ensue which are appalling 
to be thought of. 



Harrison's inaugural address. 255 

If parties in a republic are necessary to secure a degree 
of vigilance sufficient to keep the public functionaries 
within the bounds of law and duty, at that point their 
usefulness ends. Beyond that, they become destructive 
of public virtue, the parents of a spirit antagonist to that 
of liberty, and, eventually, its inevitable conqueror. We 
have examples of republics, where the love of country and 
of liberty at one time were the dominant passions of the 
whole mass of citizens. And yet, with the continuance 
of the name and form of free government, not a vestige of 
these qualities remained in the bosom of any one of its 
citizens. It was the beautiful remark of a distinguished 
English writer, that " in the Roman senate, Octavius had a 
party, Anthony a party, but the Commonwealth had none." 
Yet the senate continued to meet in the Temple of Lib- 
erty, and to talk of the sacredness and beauty of the com- 
monwealth, and gaze at the statues of the elder Brutus, 
and of the Curtii and Decii. And the people assembled 
in the forum, not, as in the days of Camillus and the 
Scipios, to cast their free votes for annual magistrates, or 
pass upon the acts of the senate, but to receive from the 
hands of the leaders of the respective parties their share of 
the spoils, and to shout for one or the other, as those col- 
lected in Gaul, or Egypt, and the Lesser Asia, would 
furnish the larger dividend. The spirit of liberty had fled, 
and, avoiding the abodes of civilized man, had sought 
protection in the wilds of Scythia or Scandinavia ; and so, 
under the operation of the same causes and influences, it 
will fly from our capitol and our forums. A calamity so 
awful, not only to our country, but to the world, must be 
deprecated by every patriot ; and every tendency to a state 
of things likely to produce it, immediately checked. Such 
a tendency has existed — does exist. Always the friend 
of my countrymen, never their flatterer, it becomes my 
duty to say to them, from this high place, to which their 
partiality has exalted me, that there exists in the land a spirit 
hostile to their best interests — hostile to liberty itself. It 
is a spirit contracted in its views, and selfish in its object. 
It looks to the aggrandizement of a few, even to the de- 
struction of the interests of the whole. The entire remedy 



256 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

is with the people. Something, however, may be effected 
by the means which they have placed in my hands. 

It is union that we want, not of a party for the sake of 
that party, but of the whole country for the sake of the 
whole country — for the defence of its interests and its 
honor against foreign aggression, for the defence of those 
principles for which our ancestors so gloriously contended. 
As far as it depends upon me it shall be accomplished. 
All the influence which I possess shall be exerted to pre- 
vent the formation at least of an executive party in the 
halls of the legislative body. I wish for the support of no 
member of that body to any measure of mine that does not 
satisfy his judgment and his sense of duty to those from 
whom he holds his appointment; nor any confidence in ad- 
vance from the people, but that asked by Mr. Jefferson, 
" to give firmness and effect to the legal administration of 
their affairs." 

I deem the present occasion sufficiently important and 
solemn to justify me in expressing to my fellow-citizens 
a profound reverence for the Christian religion, and a 
thorough conviction that sound morals, religious liberty, 
and a just sense of religious responsibility, are essentially 
connected with all true and lasting happiness ; and to 
that good Being who has blessed us by the gift of civil 
and religious freedom, who watched over and prospered 
the labors of our fathers, and has hitherto preserved to us 
institutions far exceeding in excellence those of any other 
people, let us unite in fervently commending every inter- 
est of our beloved country in all future time. 

Fellow-citizens — Being fully invested with that high 
office to which the partiality of my countrymen has called 
me, I now take an affectionate leave of you. You will 
bear with you to your homes the remembrance of the 
pledge I have this day given to discharge all the high du- 
ties of my exalted station according to the best of my 
ability ; and I shall enter upon their performance with 
entire confidence in the support of a just and generous 
people. 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 257 

TYLER'S ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE. 

April 9, 1841. 

In just one month after entering upon his duties as President 
of the United States, William Henry Harrison died — the first 
that has died in office since the formation of the government. 
Consequently it became the duty of the Vice-President, John 
Tyler, to assume the presidential chair ; on which occasion he 
published the following 

ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF THE U. STATES. 

Felloiv-Citizcns : 

Before my arrival at the seat of government, the pain- 
ful communication was made to you by the officers presi- 
ding over the several departments, of the deeply-regretted 
death of William Henry Harrison, President of the United 
States. Upon him you had conferred your gift, and had 
selected him as your chosen instrument to correct and re- 
form all such errors and abuses as had manifested them- 
selves from time to time in the practical operation of the 
government. While standing at the threshold of this 
great work, he has, by the dispensation of Providence, been 
removed from us, and by the provisions of the constitution 
the efforts to be directed to the accomplishment of this 
vitally-important task have devolved upon myself. The 
same occurrence has subjected the wisdom and sufficiency 
of our institutions to a new test. 

For the first time in our history, the person elected to 
the vice-presidency of the United States, by the happen- 
ing of a contingency provided for in the constitution, has 
had devolved upon him the presidential office. The spirit 
of faction, which is directly opposed to the spirit of a lofty 
patriotism, may find in this, occasion for assaults upon my 
administration. And in succeeding, under circumstances 
so sudden and unexpected, and to responsibilities so greatly 
augmented, to the administration of public affairs, I shall 
place in the intelligence and patriotism of the people my 
only sure reliance. My earnest prayer shall be constantly 
addressed to the all-wise and all-powerful Being who made 
22* 



258 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

me, and by whose dispensation I am called to the high 
office of President of this confederacy, that I may be ena- 
bled understandingly to carry out the principles of that 
constitution which I have sworn to " protect, preserve, 
and defend." 

The usual opportunity which is afforded a chief magis- 
trate, upon his induction to office, of presenting to his 
countrymen an exposition of the policy which would guide 
his administration, in the form of an inaugural address, 
not having, under the peculiar circumstances which have 
brought me to the discharge of the high duties of President 
of the United States, been offered to me, a brief exposition 
of the principles which will govern me in the general 
course of my administration of public affairs, would seem 
due as well to myself as to you. In regard to foreign na- 
tions, the groundwork of my policy will be justice on our 
part to all, submitting to injustice from none. While I 
shall sedulously cultivate the relation of peace and amity 
with one and all, it will be my most imperative duty to see 
that the honor of the country shall sustain no blemish. 
With a view to this, the condition of our military defences 
will become a matter of anxious solicitude. The army, 
which has in other days covered itself with renown, and 
the navy, not inappropriately termed the right hand of the 
public defence, which has spread a light of glory over the 
American standard in all the waters of the earth, should 
be rendered replete with efficiency. 

In view of the fact, well avouched by history, that the 
tendency of all human institutions is to concentrate power 
in the hands of a single man, and that their ultimate down- 
fall has proceeded from this cause, I deem it of the most 
essential importance that a complete separation should 
take place between the sword and the purse. No matter 
where or how the public moneys shall be deposited, so long 
as the President can exert the power of appointing and 
removing, at his pleasure, the agents selected for their 
custody, the commander-in-chief of the army and navy is 
in fact the treasurer. A permanent and radical change 
should therefore be decreed. The patronage incident to 
the presidential office, already great, is constantly increas- 
ing. Such increase is destined to keep pace with the 



tyler's address to the people. 259 

growth of our population, until, without a figure of speech, 
an army of office-holders may be spread over the land. 
The unrestrained power exerted by a selfishly ambitious 
man, in order either to perpetuate his authority or to hand 
it over to some favorite as his successor, may lead to the 
employment of all the means within his control to accom- 
plish his object. 

The right to remove from office, while subjected to no 
restraint, is inevitably destined to produce a spirit of 
crouching servility with the official corps, which, in order 
to uphold the hand which feeds them, would lead to direct 
and active interference in the elections, both state and 
federal, thereby subjecting the course of state legislation to 
the dictation of the chief executive officer ; and making the 
will of that officer absolute and supreme. I will, at a 
proper time, invoke the action of Congress upon this sub- 
ject, and shall readily acquiesce in the adoption of all 
proper measures which are calculated to arrest these evils, 
so full of danger in their tendency. 

I will remove no incumbent from office who has faith- 
fully and honestly acquitted himself of the duties of his 
office, except in cases where such officer has been guilty 
of an active partisanship, or by secret means — the less 
manly, and therefore the more objectionable — has given 
his official influence to the purposes of party, thereby 
bringing the patronage of the government in conflict with 
the freedom of elections. Numerous removals may be- 
come necessary under this rule. These will be made by 
me through no acerbity of feeling. I have had no cause 
to cherish or indulge unkind feelings towards any, but my 
conduct will be regulated by a profound sense of what is 
due to the country and its institutions ; nor shall I neglect 
to apply the same unbending rule to those of my appoint- 
ment. Freedom of opinion will be tolerated, the right of 
suffrage will be maintained as the birthright of every Amer- 
ican citizen, but I say emphatically to the official corps, 
" Thus far, and no farther." 

I have dwelt the longer upon this subject, because re- 
movals from office are likely often to arise, and I would 
have my countrymen to understand the principle of ex- 
ecutive action. 



260 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

In all public expenditures the most rigid economy 
should be resorted to, and as one of its results, a public 
debt in time of peace be sedulously avoided. A wise and 
patriotic constituency will never object to the imposition of 
necessary burdens for useful ends, and true wisdom dic- 
tates the resort to such means, in order to supply deficien- 
cies in the ^revenue, rather than to those doubtful expedi- 
ents, which, ultimating in a public debt, serve to embarrass 
the resources of the country, and to lessen its ability to 
meet any great emergency which may arise. All sinecures 
should be abolished. The appropriations should be direct 
and explicit, so as to leave as limited a share of discretion 
to the disbursing agents as may be found compatible with 
the public service. A strict responsibility on the part of 
all agents of the government should be maintained, and 
peculation and defalcation visited with immediate expul- 
sion from office and the most condign punishment. 

The public interest demands that, if any war has existed 
between the government and the currency, it shall cease. 
Measures of a financial character, now having the sanction 
of legal enactment, shall be faithfully enforced until re- 
pealed by the legislative authority. But I owe it to myself 
to say, that I regard existing enactments as unwise and im- 
politic, and in a high degree oppressive. 

I shall promptly give sanction to any constitutional 
measure which, originating in Congress, shall have for its 
object the restoration of a sound circulating medium, so 
essentially necessary to give confidence in all the trans- 
actions of life, to secure to industry its just and adequate 
rewards, and to reestablish the public prosperity. In de- 
ciding upon the adaptation of any such measure to the end 
proposed, as well as its conformity to the constitution, I 
shall resort to the fathers of the great republican school, 
for advice and instruction, to be drawn from their sage 
views of our system of government, and the light of their 
ever-glorious example. 

The institutions under which we live, my countrymen, 
secure each person in the perfect enjoyment of all his 
rights. The spectacle is exhibited to the world of a gov- 
ernment deriving its power from the consent of the gov- 
erned, and having imparted to it only so much power as is 



tyler's extra session message. 261 

necessary for its successful operation. Those who are 
charged with its administration should carefully abstain 
from all attempts to enlarge the range of powers thus 
granted to the several departments of the government, 
other than by an appeal to the people for additional grants, 
lest by so doing they disturb that balance which the pat- 
riots and statesmen who framed the constitution designed 
to establish between the federal government and the states 
composing the Union. 

The observance of these rules is enjoined upon us by 
that feeling of reverence and affection which finds a place 
in the heart of every patriot for the preservation of union 
and the blessings of union — for the good of our children 
and our children's children, through countless genera- 
tions. An opposite course could not fail to generate fac- 
tions, intent upon the gratification of their selfish ends; 
to give birth to local and sectional jealousies, and to ulti- 
mate either in breaking asunder the bonds of union, or in 
building up a central system which would inevitably end in 
a bloody sceptre and an iron crown. 

In conclusion, I beg you to be assured that I shall exert 
myself to carry the foregoing principles into practice dur- 
ing my administraton of the government, and, confiding 
in the protecting care of an ever-watchful and overruling 
Providence, it shall be my first and highest duty to preserve 
unimpaired the free institutions under which we live, and 
transmit them to those who shall succeed me in their full 
force and vigor. 



TYLER'S EXTRA SESSION MESSAGE. 
June 1, 1841. 

To the Senate and 

House of Representatives of the United States : 

Fellow-Citizens : You have been assembled in your 
respective halls of legislation under a proclamation bear- 
ing the signature of the illustrious citizen who was so 
lately called by the direct suffrages of the people to the 



262 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

discharge of the important functions of their chief execu- 
tive office. Upon the expiration of a single month from 
the day of his installation, he has paid the great debt of 
nature, leaving behind him a name associated with the 
recollection of numerous benefits conferred upon the coun- 
try during a long life of patriotic devotion. With this pub- 
lic bereavement are connected other considerations, which 
will not escape the attention of Congress. The prepara- 
tions necessary for his removal to the seat of government, 
in view of a residence of four years, must have devolved 
upon the late President heavy expenditures, which, if per- 
mitted to burden the limited resources of his private 
fortune, may tend to the serious embarrassment of his 
surviving family ; and it is therefore respectfully submitted 
to Congress whether the ordinary principles of justice 
would not dictate the propriety of its legislative interpo- 
sition. By the provisions of the fundamental law, the 
powers and duties of the high station to which he was 
elected have devolved upon me, and in the dispositions of 
the representatives of the states and of the people will be 
found to a great extent a solution of the problem to which 
our institutions are for the first time subjected. 

In entering upon the duties of this office, I did not feel 
that it would be becoming in me to disturb what had been 
ordered by my lamented predecessor. Whatever, there- 
fore, may have been my opinion, originally, as to the pro- 
priety of convening Congress at so early a day from that 
of its late adjournment, I found a new and a controlling 
inducement not to interfere with the patriotic desires of 
the late President, in the novelty of the situation in which 
I was so unexpectedly placed. My first wish under such 
circumstances would necessarily have been to have called 
to my aid, in the administration of public affairs, the com- 
bined wisdom of the two Houses of Congress, in order to 
take their counsel and advice as to the best mode of ex- 
tricating the government and the country from the em- 
barrassments weighing heavily on both. I am then most 
happy in finding myself, so soon after my accession to the 
Presidency, surrounded by the immediate representatives 
of the states and people. 

No important changes having taken place in our for- 



tyler's extra session message, 263 

eign relations since the last session of Congress, it is not 
deemed necessary, on this occasion, to go into a detailed 
statement in regard to them. I am happy to say that I 
see nothing to destroy the hope of being able to preserve 
peace. 

The ratification of the treaty with Portugal has been 
duly exchanged between the two governments. This gov- 
ernment has not been inattentive to the interests of those 
of our citizens who have claims on the government of 
Spain founded on express treaty stipulations, and a hope 
is indulged that the representations which have been made 
to that government on this subject may lead ere long to 
beneficial results. 

A correspondence has taken place between the secretary 
of state and the minister of her Britannic majesty ac- 
credited to this government, on the subject of Alexander 
McLeod's indictment and imprisonment, copies of which 
are herewith communicated to Congress. 

In addition to what appears from these papers, it 
may be proper to state that Alexander McLeod has been 
heard by the Supreme Court of the State of New York 
on his motion to be discharged from imprisonment, and 
that the decision of that court has not as yet been pro- 
nounced. 

The secretary of state has addressed to me a paper upon 
two subjects, interesting to the commerce of the country, 
which will receive my consideration, and which I have the 
honor to communicate to Congress. 

So far as it depends on the course of this government, 
our relations of good-will and friendship will be sedulously 
cultivated with all nations. The true American policy will 
be found to consist in the exercise of a spirit of justice to 
be manifested in the discharge of all our international ob- 
ligations, to the weakest of the family of nations as well as 
to the most powerful. Occasional conflicts of opinion may 
arise, but when the discussions incident to them are con- 
ducted in the language of truth and with a strict regard to 
justice, the scourge of war will for the most part be 
avoided. The time ought to be regarded as having gone 
by when a resort to arms is to be esteemed as the only 
proper arbiter of national differences. 



264 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

The census recently taken shows a regularly progres- 
sive increase in our population. Upon the breaking out 
of the war of the revolution, our numbers scarcely equalled 
three millions of souls; they already exceed seventeen 
millions, and will continue to increase in a ratio which 
duplicate^ in a period of about twenty-three years. The 
old states contain a territory sufficient in itself to maintain 
a population of additional millions, and the most populous 
of the new states may even yet be regarded as but par- 
tially settled, while of the new lands on this side of the 
Rocky Mountains, to say nothing of the immense region 
which stretches from the base of those mountains to the 
mouth of the Columbia River, about 770,000,000 of acres, 
ceded and unceded, still remain to be brought into mar- 
ket. We hold out to the people of other countries an in- 
vitation to come and settle among us as members of our 
rapidly-growing family ; and, for the blessings which we 
offer them, we require of them to look upon our country 
as their country, and to unite with us in the great task of 
preserving our institutions and thereby perpetuating our 
liberties. No motive exists for foreign conquests. We 
desire but to reclaim our almost illimitable wildernesses, 
and to introduce into their depths the lights of civilization. 
While we shall at all times be prepared to vindicate the 
national honor, our most earnest desire will be to maintain 
an unbroken peace. 

In presenting the foregoing views, I cannot withhold 
the expression of the opinion that there exists nothing in 
the extension of our empire over our acknowledged pos- 
sessions to excite the alarm of the patriot for the safety of 
our institutions. The federative system, leaving to each 
state the care of its domestic concerns, and devolving on 
the federal government those of general import, admits in 
safety of the greatest expansion ; but, at the same time, I 
deem it proper to add that there will be found to exist at 
all times an imperious necessity for restraining all the 
functionaries of this government within the range of their 
respective powers, thereby preserving a just balance be- 
tween the powers granted to this government and those 
reserved to the states and to the people. 

From the report of the secretary of the treasury, you 



tyler's extra session message. 265 

will perceive that the fiscal means present and accruino- 
are insufficient co supply the wants of the government for 
the current year. The balance in the treasury on the 
fourth day of March last, not covered by outstanding drafts, 
and exclusive of trust funds, is estimated at $860,000. 
This includes the sum of $215,000 deposited in the Mint 
and its branches to procure metal for coining, and in the 
process of coinage, and which could not be withdrawn 
without inconvenience ; thus leaving subject to draft in 
the various depositories the sum of $645,000. By virtue 
of two several acts of Congress, the secretary of the treas- 
ury was authorized to issue, on and after the fourth day 
of March last, treasury riotes to the amount of $5,413,000, 
making an aggregate available fund of $6,058,000 on hand. 

But this fund was chargeable with outstanding treasury 
notes redeemable in the current year and interest thereon 
to the estimated amount of five millions two hundred and 
eighty thousand dollars. There is also thrown upon the 
treasury the payment of a large amount of demands ac- 
crued in whole or in part in former years, which will ex- 
haust the available means of the treasury, and leave the 
accruing revenue, reduced as it is in amount, burdened 
with debt and charged with the current expenses of the 
government. The aggregate amount of outstanding 
appropriations on the fourth day of March last was 
$33,429,616 50, of which $24,210,000 will be required 
during the current year ; and there will also be required 
for the use of the war department additional appropri- 
ations to the amount of $2,511,132 98, the special ob- 
jects of which will be seen by reference to the report of 
the secretary of war. 

The anticipated means of the treasury are greatly in- 
adequate to this demand. The receipts from customs for 
the last three quarters of the last year, and the first quar- 
ter of the present year, amounted to $12,100,000; the re- 
ceipts for lands for the same time to $2,742,430 60 ; show- 
ing an average revenue from both sources of $1,236,870 
per month. A gradual expansion of trade, growing out 
of a restoration of confidence, together with a reduction 
in the expenses of collecting, and punctuality on the part 
of collecting officers, may cause an addition to the monthly 
23 



266 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

receipts from the customs. They are estimated for the 
residue of the year from the 4th of March at $12,000,000 ; 
the receipts from the public lands for the same time are 
estimated at $2,500,000 ; and from miscellaneous sources 
at $170,000; making an aggregate of available funds 
within the year of $14,670,000; which will leave a prob- 
able deficit of $11,406,000. To meet this, some tem- 
porary provision is necessary, until the amount can be 
absorbed by the excess of revenues which are anticipated 
to accrue at no distant day. 

There will fall due within the next three months treas- 
ury notes of the issues of 1840, including interest, about 
$2,850,000. There is chargeable in the same period for 
arrearages for taking the sixth census $294,000; and the 
estimated expenditures for the current service are about 
$8,100,000, making the aggregate demand upon the treasu- 
ry, prior to the 1st of September next, about $11,340,000. 

The ways and means in the treasury, and estimated to 
accrue within the above-named period, consist of about 
$694,000, of funds available on the 28th ultimo ; an un- 
issued balance of treasury notes authorized by the act of 
1841 amounting to $1,955,000, and estimated receipts 
from all sources of $3,800,000, making an aggregate of 
about $6,450,000, and leaving a probable deficit on the 
1st of September next of about $4,845,000. 

In order to supply the wants of the government, an in- 
telligent constituency, in view of their best interests, will, 
without hesitation, submit to all necessary burdens. But 
it is nevertheless important so to impose them as to avoid 
defeating the just expectations of the country, growing 
out of preexisting laws. The act of the 2d March, 1833, 
commonly called the compromise act, should not be altered 
except under urgent necessities, which are not believed at 
this time to exist. One year only remains to complete 
the series of reductions provided for by that law, at which 
time provisions made by the same law, and which then 
will be brought actively in aid of the manufacturing in- 
terests of the Union, will not fail to produce the most ben- 
eficial results. Under a system of discriminating duties 
imposed for purposes of revenue, in unison with the pro- 
visions of existing laws, it is to be hoped that our policy 



tyler's extra session message. U67 

will, in the future, be fixed and permanent, so as to avoid 
those constant fluctuations which defeat the very objects 
they have in view. We shall thus best maintain a posi- 
tion which, while it will enable us the more readily to meet 
the advances of other countries calculated to promote our 
trade and commerce, will, at the same time, leave in our 
own hands the means of retaliating with greater effect 
unjust regulations. 

In intimate connection with the question of revenue is 
that which makes provision for a suitable fiscal agent ca- 
pable of adding increased facilities in the collection and 
disbursement of the public revenues, rendering more se- 
cure their custody, and consulting a true economy in the 
great, multiplied, and delicate operations of the treasury 
department. Upon such an agent depends, in an eminent 
degree, the establishment of a currency of uniform value, 
which is of so great importance to all the essential inter- 
ests of society ; and on the wisdom to be manifested in 
its creation much depends. So intimately interwoven 
are its operations not only with the interests of individuals, 
but of states, that it may be regarded in a great degree 
as controlling both. If paper be used as the chief medi- 
um of circulation, and the power be vested in the govern- 
ment of issuing it at pleasure, either in the form of treas* 
ury drafts or any other, or if banks be used as the public 
depositories, with liberty to regard all surpluses, from 
day to day, as so much added to their active capital, prices 
are exposed to constant fluctuations, and industry to se- 
vere suffering. In the one case, political considerations, 
directed to party purposes, may control, while excessive 
cupidity may prevail in the other. The public is thus 
constantly liable to imposition. Expansions and contrac- 
tions may follow each other in rapid succession, the one 
engendering a reckless spirit of adventure and speculation, 
which embraces states as well as individuals ; the other 
causing a fall in prices, and accomplishing an entire 
change in the aspect of affairs. Stocks of all kinds rap- 
idly decline, individuals are ruined, and states embar- 
rassed even in their efforts to meet with punctuality the 
interest on their debts. Such, unhappily, is the condi- 
tion of things now existing in the United States. The^e 



268 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

effects may readily be traced to the causes above referred 
to. The public revenues, on being removed from the 
then Bank of the United States, under an order of a late 
President, were placed in selected state banks, which, 
actuated by the double motive of conciliating the govern- 
ment and augmenting their profits to the greatest possible 
extent, enlarged extravagantly their discounts, thus ena- 
bling all other existing banks to do the same. Large 
dividends were declared, which, stimulating the cupidity 
of capitalists, caused a rush to be made to the legislatures 
of the respective states for similar acts of incorporation, 
which, by many of the states, under a temporary infatu- 
ation, were readily granted, and thus the augmentation 
of the circulating medium, consisting almost exclusively 
of paper, produced a most fatal delusion. 

An illustration, derived from the land sales of the period 
alluded to, will serve best to show the effect of the whole 
system. The average sales of the public lands, for a 
period of ten years prior to 1834, had not much exceeded 
$2,000,000 per annum. In 1834 they attained, in round 
numbers, to the amount of $6,000,000. In the succeed- 
ing year of 1835 they reached $16,000,000. And in 
1836 they amounted to the enormous sum of $25,000,000. 
Thus crowding into the short space of three years up- 
wards of twenty-three years' purchase of the public do- 
main. So apparent had become the necessity of arresting 
this course of things, that the executive department as- 
sumed the highly-questionable power of discriminating in 
the funds to be used in payment by different classes of 
public debtors — a discrimination which was doubtless de- 
signed to correct this most ruinous state of things by the 
exaction of specie in all payments for the public lands, 
but which could not at once arrest the tide which had so 
strongly set in. Hence the demands for specie became 
unceasing, and corresponding prostration rapidly ensued 
under the necessities created with the banks to curtail 
their discounts, and thereby to reduce their circulation. 
I recur to these things with no disposition to censure pre- 
existing administrations of the government, but simply in 
exemplification of the truth of the position which I have 
assumed. If, then, any fiscal agent which may be created 



tyler's extra session message. 269 

shall be placed, without due restrictions, either in the 
hands of the administrators of the government or those 
of private individuals, the temptation to abuse will prove 
to be resistless. Objects of political aggrandizement may 
seduce the first, and the promptings of a boundless cupid- 
ity will assail the last. Aided by the experience of the 
past, it will be the pleasure of Congress so to guard and 
fortify the public interests, in the creation of any new 
agent, as to place them, so far as human wisdom can ac- 
complish it, on a footing of perfect security. Within a 
few years past, three different .schemes have been before 
the country. The charter of the Bank of the United 
States expired by its own limitations in 1836. An effort 
was made to renew it, which received the sanction of the 
two houses of Congress ; but the then President of the 
United States exercised his veto power, and the mea- 
sure was defeated. A regard to truth requires me to say 
that the President was fully sustained in the course he 
had taken by the popular voice. His successor in the chair 
of state unqualifiedly pronounced his opposition to any 
new charter of a similar institution ; and not only the 
popular election which brought him into power, but the 
elections through much of his term, seemed clearly to in- 
dicate a concurrence with him in sentiment on the part 
of the people. After the public moneys were withdrawn 
from the United States Bank, they were placed in deposit 
with the state banks, and the result of that policy has 
been before the country. To say nothing as to the ques- 
tions whether that experiment was made under propitious 
or adverse circumstances, it may safely be asserted that it 
did receive the unqualified condemnation of most of its 
early advocates, and, it is believed, was also condemned by 
the popular sentiment. The existing sub-treasury system 
does not seem to stand in higher favor with the people, 
but has recently been condemned in a manner too plainly 
indicated to admit of a doubt. Thus, in the short period 
of eight years, the popular voice may be regarded as 
having successively condemned each of the three schemes 
of finance to which I have adverted. As to the first, it 
was introduced at a time (1816) when the state banks, 
then comparatively few in number, had been forced to 
23* 



270 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN 

suspend specie payments, by reason of the war which had 
previously prevailed with Great Britain. Whether, if the 
United States Bank charter, which expired in 1811, had 
been renewed in due season, it would have been enabled 
to continue specie payments during the war and the dis- 
astrous period to the commerce of the country which im- 
mediately succeeded, is, to say the least, problematical ; 
and whether the United States Bank of 1816 produced a 
restoration of specie payments, or the same was accom- 
plished through the instrumentality of other means, was 
a matter of some difficulty at that time to determine. 
Certain it is that, for the first years of the operation of 
that bank, its course was as disastrous as for the greater 
part of its subsequent career it became eminently success- 
ful. As to the second, the experiment was tried with a 
redundant treasury, which continued to increase until it 
seemed to be the part of wisdom to distribute the surplus 
revenue among the states, which, operating at the same 
time with the specie circular, and the causes before ad- 
verted to, caused them to suspend specie payments, and 
involved the country in the greatest embarrassment. And, 
as to the third, if carried through all the stages of its 
transmutation, from paper and specie to nothing but the 
precious metals, to say nothing of the insecurity of the 
public moneys, its injurious effects have been anticipated 
by the country in its unqualified condemnation. What 
is now to be regarded as the judgment of the American 
people on this whole subject, I have no accurate means 
of determining, but by appealing to their more immediate 
representatives. The late contest, which terminated in 
the election of General Harrison to the Presidency, was 
decided on principles well known and openly declared ; 
and, while the sub-treasury received in the result the 
most decided condemnation, yet no other scheme of 
finance seemed to have been concurred in. To you, then, 
who have come more directly from the body of our com- 
mon constituents, I submit the entire question, as best 
qualified to give a full exposition of their wishes and 
opinions. I shall be ready to concur with you in the 
adoption of such system as you may propose, reserving 
to myself the ultimate power of rejecting any measure 



tyler's extra session message. 271 

which may, in my view of it, conflict with the constitution, 
or otherwise jeopard the prosperity of the country — a 
power which I could not part with even if I would, but 
which I will not believe any act of yours will call into 
requisition. 

I cannot avoid recurring, in connection with this subject, 
to the necessity which exists for adopting some suitable 
measure whereby the unlimited creation of banks by the 
states may be corrected in future. Such result can be 
most readily achieved by the consent of the states, to be 
expressed in the form of a compact among themselves, 
which they can only enter into with the consent and appro- 
bation of this government — a consent which, in the present 
emergency of the public demands, may justifiably be given 
by Congress in advance of any action by the states as an 
inducement to such action upon terms well defined by the 
act of tender. Such a measure, addressing itself to the 
calm reflection of the states, would find in the experience 
of the past and the condition of the present, much to sustain 
it. And it is greatly to be doubted whether any scheme 
of finance can prove for any length of time successful while 
the states shall continue in the unrestrained exercise of the 
power of creating banking corporations. This power can 
only be limited by their consent. 

With the adoption of a financial agency of a satisfactory 
character, the hope may be indulged that the country may 
once more return to a state of prosperity. Measures aux- 
iliary thereto, and, in some measure, inseparably connected 
with its success, will doubtless claim the attention of Con- 
gress. Among such, a distribution of the proceeds of the 
sales of the public lands, provided such distribution does not 
force upon Congress the necessity of imposing upon com- 
merce heavier burdens than those contemplated by the act 
of 1833, would act as an efficient remedial measure by 
being brought directly in aid of the states. As one sin- 
cerely devoted to the task of preserving a just balance in 
our system of government, by the maintenance of the states 
in a condition the most free and respectable, and in the full 
possession of all their power, I can no otherwise than feel 
desirous for their emancipation from the situation to which 
the pressure on their finances now subjects them. And, 



272 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

while I must repudiate as a measure founded in error, and 
wanting constitutional sanction, the slightest approach to 
an assumption by this government of the debts of the states, 
yet I can see, in the distribution adverted to, much to rec- 
ommend it. The compacts between the proprietor states 
and this government expressly guaranty *to the states all the 
benefits which may arise from the sales. The mode by 
which this is to be effected addresses itself to the discretion 
of Congress, as the trustee for the states ; and its exercise, 
after the most beneficial manner, is restrained by nothing 
in the grants or in the constitution, so long as Congress 
shall consult that equality in the distribution which the 
compacts require. In the present condition of some of 
the states, the question of distribution may be regarded as 
substantially a question between direct and indirect taxa- 
tion. If the distribution be not made in some form or 
other, the necessity will daily become more urgent with 
the debtor states for a resort to an oppressive system of 
direct taxation, or their credit, and necessarily their power 
and influence, will be greatly diminished. The payment 
of taxes, after the most inconvenient and oppressive mode, 
will be exacted in place of contributions for the most part 
voluntarily made, and therefore comparatively unoppressive. 
The states are emphatically the constituents of this gov- 
ernment ; and we should be entirely regardless of the ob- 
jects held in view by them in the creation of this govern- 
ment if we could be indifferent to their good. The happy 
effects of such a measure upon all the states would imme- 
diately be manifested. With the debtor states it would 
effect the relief, to a great extent, of the citizens from a 
heavy burden of direct taxation, which presses with severity 
on the laboring classes, and eminently assist in restoring 
the general prosperity. An immediate advance would take 
place in the price of the state securities, and the attitude 
of the states would become once more, as it should ever 
be, lofty and erect. With states laboring under no ex- 
treme pressure from debt, the fund which they would derive 
from this source would enable them to improve their condi- 
tion in an eminent degree. So far as this government is 
concerned, appropriations to domestic objects, approaching 
in amount the revenue derived from the land sales, might 



tyler's extra session message. 273 

be abandoned, and thus a system of unequal and therefore 
unjust legislation would be substituted by one dispensing 
equality to all the members of this confederacy. Whether 
such distribution should be made directly to the states in 
the proceeds of the sales, or in the form of profits by virtue 
of the operations of any fiscal agency having these proceeds 
as its basis, should such measure be contemplated by Con- 
gress, would well deserve its consideration. Nor would 
such disposition of the proceeds of the sales in any man- 
ner prevent Congress from time to time from passing all 
necessary preemption laws for the benefit of actual settlers, 
or from making any new arrangement as to the price of the 
public lands which might in future be esteemed desirable. 

I beg leave particularly to call your attention to the 
accompanying report from the secretary of war. Besides 
the present state of the war which has so long afflicted 
the territory of Florida, and the various other matters 
of interest therein referred to, you will learn from it that 
the secretary has instituted an inquiry into abuses, which 
promises to develop great enormities in connection with 
Indian treaties which have been negotiated, as well as in 
the expenditures for the removal and subsistence of the 
Indians. He represents, also, other irregularities of a 
serious nature that have grown up in the practice of the 
Indian department, which will require the appropriation 
of upwards of $200,000 to correct, and which claim the 
immediate attention of Congress. 

In reflecting on the proper means of defending the 
country, we cannot shut our eyes to the consequences 
which the introduction and use of the power of steam 
upon the ocean are likely to produce in wars between 
maritime states. We cannot yet see the extent to which 
this power may be applied in belligerent operations, con- 
necting itself as it does with recent improvements in the sci- 
ence of gunnery and projectiles; but we need have no fear 
of being left, in regard to these things, behind the most 
active and skilful of other nations, if the genius and en- 
terprise of our fellow-citizens receive proper encourage- 
ment and direction from government. 

True wisdom would, nevertheless, seem to dictate the 
necessity of placing in perfect condition those fortifications 



274 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

which are designed for the protection of our principal cities 
and roadsteads. For the defence of our extended maritime 
coast, our chief reliance should be placed on our navy, 
aided by those inventions which are destined to recommend 
themselves to public adoption. But no time should be lost 
in placing our principal cities on the seaboard and the 
lakes in a state of entire security from foreign assault. 
Separated as we are from the countries of the old world, 
and in much unaffected by their policy, we are happily 
relieved from the necessity of maintaining large standing 
armies in times of peace. The policy which was adopted 
by Mr. Monroe, shortly after the conclusion of the late war 
with Great Britain, of preserving a regularly-organized 
staff sufficient for the command of a large military force, 
should the necessity for one arise, is founded as well in 
economy as in true wisdom. Provision is thus made, upon 
filling up the rank and file, which can readily be done on 
any emergency, for the introduction of a system of discipline 
both promptly and efficiently. All that is required in time 
of peace is to maintain a sufficient number of men to guard 
our fortifications, to meet any sudden contingency, and to 
encounter the first shock of war. Our chief reliance must 
be placed on the militia. They constitute the great body 
of national guards, and, inspired by an ardent love of 
country, will be found ready at all times and at all seasons 
to repair with alacrity to its defence. It will be regarded 
by Congress, I doubt not, at a suitable time, as one of its 
highest duties to attend to their complete organization 
and discipline. 

By the report of the secretary of the navy it will be 
seen that the state of the navy pension fund requires the 
immediate attention of Congress. By the operation of 
the act of the 3d of March, 1837, entitled " An act for the 
more equitable administration of the navy pension fund," 
that fund has been exhausted. It will be seen that there 
will be required for the payment of navy pensions, on the 
1st of July next, $88,706 06, and on the 1st of January, 
1842, the sum of $69,000. In addition to these sums, 
about $6,000 will be required to pay arrears of pensions 
which will probably be allowed between the 1st of July 
and the 1st of January. 1842, making in the whole 



tyler's extra session message. 275 

$163,706 06. To meet these payments, there is within 
the control of the department the sum of $28,040, leavinor 
a deficit of $139,666 06. The public faith requires that 
immediate provision should be made for the payment of 
these sums. 

In order to introduce into the navy a desirable efficien- 
cy, a new system of accountability may be found to be 
indispensably necessary. To mature a plan having for 
its object the accomplishment of an end so important, and 
to meet the just expectations of the country, require more 
time than has yet been allowed to the secretary at the 
head of that department. The hope is indulged that, by 
the time of your next regular session, measures of impor- 
tance, in connection with this branch of the public service, 
may be matured for your consideration. 

Although the laws regulating the post-office depart- 
ment only require from the officer charged with its direc- 
tion to report at the usual annual session of Congress, the 
postmaster-general has presented me with some facts 
connected with the financial condition of the department 
which are deemed worthy the attention of Congress. By 
the accompanying report of that officer, it appears that the 
existing liabilities of that department beyond the means 
of payment at its command cannot be less than $500,000. 
As the laws organizing that branch of the public service 
confine the expenditure to its own revenues, deficiencies 
therein cannot be presented under the usual estimates for 
the expenses of government. It must therefore be left to 
Congress to determine whether the moneys now due to 
contractors, shall be paid from the public treasury, or 
whether that department shall continue under its present 
embarrassments. It will be seen by the report of the 
postmaster-general that the recent lettings of contracts in 
several of the states have been made at such reduced 
rates of compensation as to encourage the belief, that if 
the department was relieved from existing difficulties, its 
future operations might be conducted without any further 
call upon the general treasury. 

The power of appointing to office is one of a character 
the most delicate and responsible. The appointing power 
is evermore exposed to be led into error. With anxious 



276 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

solicitude to select the most trustworthy for official station, 
I cannot be supposed to possess a personal knowledge of 
the qualifications of every applicant. I deem it therefore 
proper, in this most public manner, to invite, on the part 
of the Senate, a just scrutiny into the character and pre- 
tensions of every person whom I may bring to their notice 
in the regular form of a nomination to office. Unless per- 
sons every way trustworthy are employed in the public 
service, corruption and irregularity will inevitably follow. 
I shall, with the greatest cheerfulness, acquiesce in the 
decision of that body, and, regarding it as wisely consti- 
tuted to aid the executive department in the performance 
of this delicate duty, I shall look to its " consent and ad- 
vice " as given only in furtherance of the best interests of 
the country. I shall also, at the earliest proper occasion, 
invite the attention of Congress to such measures as in 
my judgment will be best calculated to regulate and con- 
trol the executive power in reference to this vitally-im- 
portant subject. 

I shall also, at the proper season, invite your attention 
to the statutory enactments for the suppression of the 
slave trade, which may require to be rendered more effi- 
cient in their provisions. There is reason to believe that 
the traffic is on the increase. Whether such increase is 
to be ascribed to the abolition of slave labor in the British 
possessions in our vicinity, and an attendant diminution in 
the supply of those articles which enter into the general 
consumption of the world, thereby augmenting the demand 
from other quarters, and thus calling for additional labor, 
it were needless to inquire. The highest considerations 
of public honor, as well as the strongest promptings of hu- 
manity, require a resort to the most vigorous efforts to 
suppress the trade. 

In conclusion, I beg leave to invite your particular at- 
tention to the interests of this District. Nor do I doubt 
but that, in a liberal spirit of legislation, you will seek 
to advance its commercial as well as its local interests. 
Should Congress deem it to be its duty to repeal the ex- 
isting sub-treasury law, the necessity of providing a suit- 
able place of deposit for the public moneys which may be 
required within the District must be apparent to all. 



jackson's maysville road veto. 277 

I have felt it due to the country to present the forego- 
ing topics to your consideration and reflection. Others, 
with which it might not seem proper to trouble you at an 
extraordinary session, will be laid before you at a future 
day. I am happy in committing the important affairs of 
the country into your hands. The tendency of public 
sentiment, I am pleased to believe, is towards the adop- 
tion, in a spirit of union and harmony, of such measures 
as will fortify the public interests. To cherish such a 
tendency of public opinion is the task of an elevated pa- 
triotism. That differences of opinion as to the means of 
accomplishing these desirable objects should exist, is 
reasonably to be expected. Nor can all be made satisfied 
with any system of measures. But I flatter myself with 
the hope that the great body of the people will readily 
unite in the support of those whose efforts spring from a 
disinterested desire to promote their happiness ; to pre- 
serve the federal and state governments within their re- 
spective orbits ; to cultivate peace with all the nations of 
the earth, on just and honorable grounds ; to exact obe- 
dience to the laws; to intrench liberty and property in 
full security ; and, consulting the most rigid economy, to 
abolish all useless expenses. 



JACKSON'S MAYSVILLE ROAD VETO. 

May 27, 1830. 

To the House of Representatives : 

Gentlemen : I have maturely considered the bill pro- 
posing to authorize " a subscription of stock in the Mays- 
ville, Washington, Paris, and Lexington Turnpike-Road 
Company," and now return the same to the House of 
Representatives, in which it originated, with my objections 
to its passage. 

Sincerely friendly to the improvement of our country 
by means of roads and canals, I regret that any difference 
of opinion in the mode of contributing to it should exist 
24 



278 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

between us ; and if, in stating this difference, I go beyond 
what the occasion may be deemed to call for, I hope to 
find an apology in the great importance of the subject, an 
unfeigned respect for the high source from which this 
branch of it has emanated, and an anxious wish to be 
correctly understood by my constituents in the discharge 
of all my duties. Diversity of sentiment among public 
functionaries, actuated by the same general motives, on the 
character and tendency of particular measures, is an inci- 
dent common to all governments, and the more to be ex- 
pected in one which, like ours, owes its existence to the 
freedom of opinion, and must be upheld by the same influ- 
ence. Controlled, as we thus are, by a higher tribunal, 
before which our respective acts will be canvassed with 
the indulgence due to the imperfections of our nature, and 
with that intelligence and unbiased judgment which are 
the true correctives of error, all that our responsibility de- 
mands is, that the public good should be the measure of 
our views, dictating alike their frank expression and hon- 
est maintenance. 

In the message which was presented to Congress at the 
opening of its present session, I endeavored to exhibit 
briefly my views upon the important and highly-inter- 
esting subject to which our attention is now to be directed. 
I was desirous of presenting to the representatives of the 
several states, in Congress assembled, the inquiry, whether 
some mode could not be devised, which would reconcile 
the diversity of opinion concerning the powers of this 
government over the subject of internal improvement, and 
the manner in which these powers, if conferred by the 
constitution, ought to be exercised. The act which I am 
called upon to consider has therefore been passed with a 
knowledge of my views on this question, as these are 
expressed in the message referred to. In that document, 
the following suggestions will be found : — 

" After the extinction of the public debt, it is not prob- 
able that any adjustment of the tariff, upon principles 
satisfactory to the people of the Union, will, until a remote 
period, if ever, leave the government without a consid- 
erable surplus in the treasury, beyond what may be re- 
quired for its current service. As, then, the period ap- 



jackson's maysville road veto. 279 

proaches when the application of the revenue to the pay- 
ment of debt will cease, the disposition of the surplus will 
present a subject for the serious deliberation of Congress; 
and it may be fortunate for the country that it is yet to be 
decided. Considered in connection with the difficulties 
which have heretofore attended appropriations for pur- 
poses of internal improvement, and with those which this 
experience tells us will certainly arise whenever power 
over such subjects may be exercised by the general gov- 
ernment, it is hoped that it may lead to the adoption of 
some plan which will reconcile the diversified interests of 
the states, and strengthen the bonds which unite them. 
Every member of the Union, in peace and in war, will be 
benefited by the improvement of inland navigation, and 
the construction of highways in the several states. Let 
us, then, endeavor to attain this benefit in a mode which 
will be satisfactory to all. That hitherto adopted has, by 
many of our fellow-citizens, been deprecated as an in- 
fraction of the constitution ; while by others it has been 
viewed as inexpedient. All feel that it has been employed 
at the expense of harmony in the legislative councils." 
And adverting to the constitutional power of Congress to 
make what I consider a proper disposition of the surplus 
revenue, I subjoined the following remarks : " To avoid 
these evils, it appears to me that the most safe, just, and 
federal disposition which could be made of the surplus 
revenue, would be its apportionment among the several 
states according to their ratio of representation ; and 
should this measure not be found warranted by the consti- 
tution, that it would be expedient to propose to the states 
an amendment authorizing it." 

The constitutional power of the federal government to 
construct or promote works of internal improvement, pre- 
sents itself in two points of view, — the first, as bearing 
upon the sovereignty of the states within whose limits 
their execution is contemplated, if jurisdiction of the ter- 
ritory which they may occupy be claimed as necessary to 
their preservation and use ; the second, as asserting the 
simple right to appropriate money from the national treas- 
ury in aid of such works, when undertaken by state 
authority, surrendering the claim of jurisdiction. In the 



280 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

first view, the question of power is an open one, and can 
be decided without the embarrassment attending the other, 
arising from the practice of the government. Although 
frequently and strenuously attempted, the power, to this 
extent, has never been exercised by the government in a 
single instance. It does not, in my opinion, possess it; 
and no bill, therefore, which admits it, can receive my 
official sanction. 

But, in the other view of the power, the question is 
differently situated. The ground taken at an early period 
of the government was, " that, whenever money has been 
raised by the general authority, and is to be applied to a 
particular measure, a question arises, whether a particular 
measure be within the enumerated authorities vested in 
Congress. If it be, the money requisite for it may be ap- 
plied to it; if not, no such application can be made." 
The document in which this principle was first advanced 
is of deservedly high authority, and should be held in 
grateful remembrance for its immediate agency in res- 
cuing the country from much existing abuse, and for its 
conservative effect upon some of the most valuable prin- 
ciples of the constitution. The symmetry and purity of 
the government would doubtless have been better pre- 
served if this restriction of the power of appropriation 
could have been maintained without weakening its ability 
to fulfil the general objects of its institution — an effect so 
likely to attend its admission, notwithstanding its apparent 
fitness, that every subsequent administration of the gov- 
ernment, embracing a period of thirty out of forty-two 
years of its existence, has adopted a more enlarged con- 
struction of the power. It is not my purpose to detain 
you by a minute recital of the acts which sustain this 
assertion, but it is proper that I should notice some of the 
most prominent, in order that the reflections which they 
suggest to my mind may be better understood. 

In the administration of Mr. Jefferson, we have two ex- 
amples of the exercise of the right of appropriation, which, 
in the considerations that led to their adoption, and in 
their effects upon the public mind, have had a greater 
agency in marking the character of the power than any 
subsequent events. I allude to the payment of fifteen 



Jackson's maysville road veto. 28 J 

millions of dollars for the purchase of Louisiana, and to 
the original appropriation for the construction of the Cum- 
berland road ; the latter act deriving much weight from 
the acquiescence and approbation of the three most pow- 
erful of the original members of the confederacy, expressed 
through their respective legislatures. Although the cir- 
cumstances of the latter case may be such as to deprive 
so much of it as relates to the actual construction of the 
road, of the force of an obligatory exposition of the con- 
stitution, it must nevertheless be admitted that so far as 
the mere appropriation of money is concerned, they pre- 
sent the principle in its most imposing aspect. No less 
than twenty-three different laws have been passed through 
all the forms of the constitution, appropriating upwards 
of two millions and a half dollars out of the national 
treasury in support of that improvement, with the appro- 
bation of every President of the United States, including 
my predecessor, since its commencement. 

Independently of the sanction giving appropriations for 
the Cumberland and other roads and objects, under this 
power, the administration of Mr. Madison was charac- 
terized by an act which furnishes the strongest evidence 
of its extent. A bill was passed through both houses of 
Congress, and presented for his approval, " setting apart 
and pledging certain funds for constructing roads and 
canals, and improving the navigation of watercourses, in 
order to facilitate, promote, and give security to internal 
commerce among the several states, and to render more 
easy and less expensive the means and provisions for the 
common defence." Regarding the bill as asserting a 
power in the federal government to construct roads and 
canals within the limits of the states in which they were 
made, he objected to its passage, on the ground of its 
unconstitutionality, declaring that the assent of the respec- 
tive states, in the mode provided by the bill, could not 
confer the power in question ; that the only cases in 
which the consent and cession of particular states can 
extend the power of Congress, are those specified and 
provided for in the constitution ; and superadding these 
avowals, his opinion that a restriction of the power " to 
provide for the common defence and general welfare " to 
24* 



282 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

cases which are to be provided for by the expenditure of 
money, would still leave within the legislative power of 
Congress all the great and most important measures of 
government, money being the ordinary and necessary 
means of carrying them into execution. I have not been 
able to consider these declarations in any other point of 
view than as a concession that the right of appropriation 
is not limited by the power to carry into effect the meas- 
ure for which the money is asked, as was formerly con- 
tended. 

The views of Mr. Monroe upon this subject were not 
left to inference. During his administration, a bill was 
passed through both houses of Congress, conferring the 
jurisdiction, and prescribing the mode by which the fed- 
eral government should exercise it, in the case of the 
Cumberland road. He returned it, with objections to its 
passage, and, in assigning them, took occasion to say, 
that in the early stages of the government, he had inclined 
to the construction that it had no right to expend money 
except in the performance of acts authorized by the other 
specific grants of power, according to a strict construc- 
tion of them ; but that, on further reflection and observa- 
tion, his mind had undergone a change ; that his opinion 
then was, " that Congress have an unlimited power to 
raise money, and that in its appropriation they have a dis- 
cretionary power, restricted by the duty to appropriate to 
purposes of common defence, and of general, not local ; 
national, not state benefit; " and this was avowed to be 
the governing principle through the residue of his admin- 
istration. The views of the last administration are of such 
recent date as to render a particular reference to them 
unnecessary. It is well known that the appropriating 
power, to the utmost extent which had been claimed for it 
in relation to internal improvements, was fully recognized 
and exercised by it. 

This brief reference to known facts will be sufficient to 
show the difficulty, if not impracticability, of bringing 
back the operations of the government to the construction 
of the constitution set up in 1798, assuming that to be its 
true reading, in relation to the power under considera- 
tion ; thus giving an admonitory proof of the force of im- 



Jackson's maysville road veto. 283 

plication, and the necessity of guarding the constitution 
with sleepless vigilance against the authority of prece- 
dents which have not the sanction of its most plainly-de- 
fined powers. For, although it is the duty of all to look 
to that sacred instrument, instead of the statute-book ; to 
repudiate, at all times, encroachments upon its spirit, 
which are too apt to be effected by the conjuncture of pe- 
culiar and facilitating circumstances ; it is not less true 
that the public good and the nature of our political insti- 
tutions require that individual differences should yield to a 
well-settled acquiescence of the people and confederated 
authorities, in particular constructions of the constitution 
on doubtful points. Not to concede this much to the spirit 
of our institutions, would impair their stability, and defeat 
the objects of the constitution itself. 

The bill before me does not call for a more definite 
opinion upon the particular circumstances which will war- 
rant appropriations of money by Congress, to aid works 
of internal improvement; for, although the extension of 
the power to apply money beyond that of carrying into 
effect the object for which it is appropriated, has, as we 
have seen, been long claimed and exercised by the fed- 
eral government, yet such grants have always been profess- 
edly under the control of the general principle, that the 
works which might be thus aided, should be "of a gen- 
eral, not local ; national, not state character." A disre- 
gard of this distinction would of necessity lead to the 
subversion of the federal system. That even this is an 
unsafe one, arbitrary in its nature, and liable consequently 
to great abuses, is too obvious to require the confirmation 
of experience. It is, however, sufficiently definitive and 
imperative to my mind to forbid my approbation of any 
bill having the character of the one under consideration. 
I have given to its provisions all the reflection demanded 
by a just regard for the interests of those of our fellow- 
citizens who have desired its passage, and by the respect 
which is due to a coordinate branch of the government ; 
but I am not able to view it in any other light than as a 
measure of purely local character ; or, if it can be con- 
sidered national, that no further distinction between the 
appropriate duties of the general and state governments 



284 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

need be attempted ; for there can be no local interest that 
may not with equal propriety be denominated national. 
It has no connection with any established system of im- 
provements; is exclusively within the limits of a state, 
starting at a point on the Ohio River, and running out 
sixty miles to an interior town ; and even so far as the 
state is interested, conferring partial, instead of general 
advantages. 

Considering the magnitude and importance of the pow- 
er, and the embarrassments to which, from the very nature 
of the thing, its exercise must necessarily be subjected, 
the real friends of internal improvement ought not to be 
willing to confide it to accident and chance. What is 
properly national in its character or otherwise, is an in- 
quiry which is often difficult of solution. The appropri- 
ations of one year, for an object which is considered na- 
tional, may be rendered nugatory by the refusal of a suc- 
ceeding Congress to continue the work, on the ground that 
it is local. No aid can be derived from the intervention 
of corporations. The question regards the character of 
the work, not that of those by whom it is to be accom- 
plished. Notwithstanding the union of the government 
with the corporation, by whose immediate agency any 
work of internal improvement is carried on, the inquiry 
will still remain, Is it national, and conducive to the ben- 
efit of the whole, or local, and operating only to the ad- 
vantage of a portion of the Union ? 

But, although I might not feel it to be my official duty 
to interpose the executive veto to the passage of a bill 
appropriating money for the construction of such works 
as are authorized by the states, and are national in their 
character, I do not wish to be understood as expressing 
an opinion that it is expedient, at this time, for the general 
government to embark in a system of this kind ; and, anx- 
ious that my constituents should be possessed of my views 
on this as well as on all other subjects which they have 
committed to my discretion, I shall state them frankly and 
briefly. Besides many minor considerations, there are two 
prominent views of the subject which I think are well en- 
titled to your serious attention, and will, I hope, be ma- 
turely weighed by the people. 



JACKSON'S MAYSVILLE ROAD VETO. 285 

From the official communication submitted to you, it 
appears that, if no adverse or unforeseen contingency 
happens in our foreign relations, and no unusual diver- 
sion be made of the funds set apart for the payment of 
the national debt, we may look with confidence to its en- 
tire extinguishment in the short period of four years. 
The extent to which this pleasing anticipation is depend- 
ent upon the policy which may be pursued in relation to 
measures of the character of the one now under consid- 
eration, must be obvious to all, and equally so that the 
events of the present session are well calculated to awa- 
ken public solicitude upon the subject. By the statement 
from the treasury department, and those from the clerks 
of the Senate and House of Representatives, herewith 
submitted, it appears that the bills which have passed 
into laws, and those which, in all probability, will pass 
before the adjournment of Congress, anticipate appropri- 
ations which, with ordinary expenditures for the support 
of government, will exceed considerably the amount in 
the treasury for the year 1830. Thus, whilst we are di- 
minishing the revenues by a reduction of the duties on tea, 
coffee, and cocoa, the appropriations for internal improve- 
ment are increasing beyond the available means in the 
treasury; and if to this calculation be added the amounts 
contained in bills which are pending before the two 
houses, it may be safely affirmed that ten millions of dollars 
would not make up the excess over the treasury receipts, 
unless the payment of the national debt be postponed, 
and the means now pledged to that object applied to those 
enumerated in these bills. Without a well-regulated 
system of internal improvement, this exhausting mode of 
appropriation is not likely to be avoided, and the plain 
consequence must be, either a continuance of the national 
debt, or a resort to additional taxes. 

Although many of the states, with a laudable zeal, and 
under the influence of an enlightened policy, are succes- 
sively applying their separate efforts to works of this char- 
acter, the desire to enlist the aid of the general govern- 
ment in the construction of such as, from their nature, 
ought to devolve upon it, and to which the means of the 
individual states are inadequate, is both rational and pa- 



286 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

triotic ; and if that desire is not gratified now, it does not 
follow that it never will be. The general intelligence 
and public spirit of the American people furnish a sure 
guaranty, that, at the proper time, this policy will be 
made to prevail under circumstances more auspicious to 
its successful prosecution than those which now exist. 
But, great as this object undoubtedly is, it is not the only 
one which demands the fostering care of the government. 
The preservation and success of the republican principle 
rests with us. To elevate its character, and extend its 
influence, rank among our most important duties ; and 
the best means to accomplish this desirable end, are those 
which will rivet the attachment of our citizens to the 
government of their choice, by the comparative lightness 
of their public burdens, and by the attraction which the 
superior success of its operations will present to the ad- 
miration and respect of the world. Through the favor of 
an overruling and indulgent Providence, our country is 
blessed with general prosperity, and our citizens exempt- 
ed from the pressure of taxation which other less favored 
portions of the human family are obliged to bear ; yet it 
is true that many of the taxes collected from our citizens, 
through the medium of imposts, have, for a considerable 
period, been onerous. In many particulars, these taxes 
have borne severely upon the laboring and less prosper- 
ous classes of the community, being imposed on the neces- 
saries of life, and this, too, in cases where the burden 
was not relieved by the consciousness that it would ul- 
timately contribute to make us independent of foreign 
nations for articles of prime necessity, by the encourage- 
ment of their growth and manufacture at home. They 
have been cheerfully borne, because they were thought 
to be necessary to the support of government, and the 
payment of the debts unavoidably incurred in the acqui- 
sition and maintenance of our national rights and liber- 
ties. But have we a right to calculate on the same 
cheerful acquiescence, when it is known that the necessi- 
ty for their continuance would cease, were it not for irreg- 
ular, improvident, and unequal appropriations of the pub- 
lic funds ? Will not the people demand, as they have a 
right to do, such a prudent system of expenditure as will 



287 

pay the debts of the Union, and authorize the reduction 
of every tax to as low a point as the wise observance of 
the necessity to protect that portion of our manufactures 
and labor, whose prosperity is essential to our national 
safety and independence, will allow 1 When the national 
debt is paid, the duties upon those articles which we do 
not raise may be repealed with safety, and still leave, I 
trust, without oppression to any section of the country, an 
accumulating surplus fund, which may be beneficially ap- 
plied to some well-digested system of improvement. 

Under this view, the question, as to the manner in 
which the federal government can, or ought to embark in 
the construction of roads and canals, and the extent to 
which it may impose burdens on the people for these pur- 
poses, may be presented on its own merits, free of all dis- 
guise, and of every embarrassment except such as may 
arise from the constitution itself. Assuming these sugges- 
tions to be correct, will not our citizens require the obser- 
vance of a course by which they can be effected ? Ought 
they not to require it 1 With the best disposition to aid, 
as far as I can conscientiously, in the furtherance of works 
of internal improvement, my opinion is, that the soundest 
views of national policy, at this time, point to such a 
course. Besides the avoidance of an evil influence upon 
the local concerns of the country, how solid is the advan- 
tage which the government will reap from it in the eleva- 
tion of its character ! How gratifying the effect of pre- 
senting to the world the sublime spectacle of a republic, 
of more than twelve millions of happy people, in the fifty- 
fourth year of her existence — after having passed through 
two protracted wars, the one for the acquisition, and the 
other for the maintenance of liberty — free from debt, and 
with all her immense resources unfettered ! What a salu- 
tary influence would not such an exhibition exercise upon 
the cause of liberal principles and free government through- 
out the world ! Would we not ourselves find in its effect 
an additional guaranty that our political institutions will 
be transmitted to the most remote posterity without decay 1 
A course of policy destined to witness events like these, 
cannot be benefited by a legislation which tolerates a 
scramble for appropriations that have no relation to any 



288 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

general system of improvement, and whose good effects 
must of necessity be very limited. In the best view of 
these appropriations, the abuses to which they lead far 
exceed the good which they are capable of promoting. 
They may be resorted to as artful expedients to shift upon 
the government the losses of unsuccessful private specula- 
tion, and thus, by ministering to personal ambition and 
self-aggrandizement, tend to sap the foundations of public 
virtue, and taint the administration of the government with 
a demoralizing influence. 

In the other view of the subject, and the only remaining 
one which it is my intention to present at this time,- is in- 
volved the expediency of embarking in a system of inter- 
nal improvement without a previous amendment of the con- 
stitution, explaining and defining the precise powers of the 
federal government over it. Assuming the right to appro- 
priate money to aid in the construction of national works 
to be warranted by the contemporaneous and continued 
exposition of the constitution, its insufficiency for the suc- 
cessful prosecution of them must be admitted by all can- 
did minds. If we look to usage to define the extent of the 
right, that will be found so variant, and embracing so much 
that has been overruled, as to involve the whole subject in 
great uncertainty, and to render the execution of our re- 
spective duties in relation to it replete with difficulty and 
embarrassment. It is in regard to such works, and the ac- 
quisition of additional territory, that the practice obtained 
its first footing. In most, if not all other disputed ques- 
tions of appropriation, the construction of the constitution 
may be regarded as unsettled, if the right to apply money, 
in the enumerated cases, is placed on the ground of usage. 

This subject has been of much, and, I may add, painful 
reflection to me. It has bearings that are well calculated 
to exert a powerful influence upon our hitherto prosperous 
system of government, and which, on some accounts, may 
even excite despondency in the breast of an American citi- 
zen. I will not detain you with professions of zeal in the 
cause of internal improvements. If to be their friend is a 
virtue which deserves commendation, our country is blessed 
with an abundance of it ; for I do not suppose there is an 
intelligent citizen who does not wish to see them flourish. 



jackson's maysville road veto. 289 

But though all are their friends, but few, I trust, are un- 
mindful of the means by which they should be promoted ; 
none certainly are so degenerate as to desire their success 
at the cost of that sacred instrument, with the preservation 
of which is indissolubly bound our country's hopes. If 
different impressions are entertained in any quarter ; if it 
is expected that the people of this country, reckless of their 
constitutional obligation, will prefer their local interest to 
the principles of the Union, such expectations will in the 
end be disappointed ; or, if it be not so, then indeed has 
the world but little to hope from the example of a free gov- 
ernment. When an honest observance of constitutional 
compacts cannot be obtained from communities like ours, 
it need not be anticipated elsewhere; and the cause in 
which there has been so much martyrdom, and from which 
so much was expected by the friends of liberty, may be 
abandoned, and the degrading truth, that man is unfit for 
self-government, admitted. And this will be the case, if 
expediency be made the rule of construction in interpreting 
the constitution. Power, in no government, could desire 
a better shield for the insidious advances with which it is 
ever ready to break up the checks that are designed to re- 
strain its action. 

But I do not entertain such gloomy apprehensions. If 
it be the wish of the people that the construction of roads 
and canals should be conducted by the federal government, 
it is not only highly expedient, but indispensably necessary, 
that a previous amendment of the constitution, delegating 
the necessary power, and defining and restricting its ex- 
ercise with reference to the sovereignty of the states, 
should be made. Without it, nothing extensively useful 
can be effected. The right to exercise as much jurisdic- 
tion as is necessary to preserve the works, and to raise 
funds by the collection of tolls to keep them in repair, 
cannot be dispensed with. The Cumberland road should 
be an instructive admonition of the consequences of acting 
without this right. Year after year, contests are witnessed, 
growing out of efforts to obtain the necessary appro- 
priations for completing and repairing this useful work. 
Whilst one Congress may claim and exercise the power, a 
succeeding one may deny it ; and this fluctuation of opinion 
25 



290 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

must be unavoidably fatal to any scheme which, from its 
extent, would promote the interests and elevate the char- 
acter of the country. The experience of the past has 
shown that the opinion of Congress is subject to such 
fluctuations. 

If it be the desire of the people that the agency of the 
federal government should be confined to the appropriation 
of money in aid of such undertakings, in virtue of state 
authorities, then the occasion, the manner, and the extent 
of the appropriations, should be made the subject of con- 
stitutional regulation. This is the more necessary, in order 
that they may be equitable among the several states ; pro- 
mote harmony between different sections of the Union and 
their representatives; preserve other parts of the constitu- 
tion from being undermined by the exercise of doubtful 
powers, or the too great extension of those which are not 
so ; and protect the whole subject against the deleterious 
influence of combinations to carry by concert, measures 
which, considered by themselves, might meet but little 
countenance. That a constitutional adjustment of this 
power upon equitable principles is in the highest degree 
desirable, can scarcely be doubted ; nor can it fail to be 
promoted by every sincere friend to the success of our 
political institutions. In no government are appeals to the 
source of power, in cases of real doubt, more suitable than 
in ours. No good motive can be assigned for the exercise 
of power by the constituted authorities, while those for 
whose benefit it is to be exercised have not conferred it, 
and may not be willing to confer it. It would seem to me 
that an honest application of the conceded powers of the 
general government to the advancement of the common 
weal, presents a sufficient scope to satisfy a reasonable am- 
bition. The difficulty and supposed impracticability of 
obtaining an amendment of the constitution in this respect, 
is, I firmly believe, in a great degree unfounded. The 
time has never yet been when the patriotism and intelli- 
gence of the American people were not fully equal to the 
greatest exigency; and it never will, when the subject, 
calling forth their interposition is plainly presented to them. 
To do so with the questions involved in this bill, and to 
urge them to an early, zealous, and full consideration of 



Jackson's maysville road veto. 291 

their deep importance, is in my estimation among the 
highest of our duties. 

A supposed connection between appropriations for in- 
ternal improvement and the system of protecting duties, 
growing out of the anxieties of those more immediately 
interested in their success, has given rise to suggestions 
which it is proper I should notice on this occasion. My 
opinions on these subjects have never been concealed from 
those who had a right to know them. Those which I 
have entertained on the latter have frequently placed me 
in opposition to individuals, as well as communities, 
whose claims upon my friendship and gratitude are of the 
strongest character ; but I trust there has been nothing in 
my public life which has exposed me to the suspicion of 
being thought capable of sacrificing my views of duty to 
private considerations, however strong they may have 
been, or deep the regrets which they are capable of ex- 
citing. 

As long as the encouragement of domestic manufactures 
is directed to national ends, it shall receive from me a 
temperate but steady support. There is no necessary 
connection between it and the system of appropriations. 
On the contrary, it appears to me that the supposition of 
their dependence upon each other is calculated to excite 
the prejudices of the public against both. The former 
is sustained on the grounds of its consistency with the 
letter and spirit of the constitution, of its origin being 
traced to the assent of all the parties to the original com- 
pact, and of its having the support and approbation of a 
majority of the people ; on which account it is at least 
entitled to a fair experiment. The suggestions to which 
I have alluded, refer to a forced continuance of the na- 
tional debt, by means of large appropriations, as a sub- 
stitute for the security which the system derives from the 
principles on which it has hitherto been sustained. Such 
a course would certainly indicate either an unreasonable 
distrust of the people, or a consciousness that the system 
does not possess sufficient soundness for its support, if left 
to their voluntary choice and its own merits. Those who 
suppose that any policy thus founded can be long upheld 
in this country, have looked upon its history with eyes 



292 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

very different from mine. This policy, like every other, 
must abide the will of the people, who will not be likely 
to allow any device, however specious, to conceal its 
character and tendency. 

In presenting these opinions, I have spoken with the 
freedom and candor which I thought the occasion for 
their expression called for ; and now respectfully return 
the bill which has been under consideration, for your 
further deliberation and judgment. 



JACKSON'S BANK VETO. 

July 10, 1832. 

To the Senate : 

The bill to " modify and continue " the act entitled 
" An act to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of 
the United States," was presented to me on the 4th of 
July instant. Having considered it with that solemn re- 
gard to the principles of the constitution which the day 
was calculated to inspire, and come to the conclusion that 
it ought not to become a law, I herewith return it to the 
Senate, in which it originated, with my objections. 

A Bank of the United States is in many respects con- 
venient for the government and useful to the people. En- 
tertaining this opinion, and deeply impressed with the 
belief that some of the powers and privileges possessed by 
the existing bank are unauthorized by the constitution, 
subversive of the rights of the states, and dangerous to 
the liberties of the people, I felt it my duty, at an early 
period of my administration, to call the attentioaof Con- 
gress to the practicability of organizing an institution 
combining all its advantages, and obviating these ob- 
jections. I sincerely regret, that in the act before me, I 
can perceive none of those modifications of the bank 
charter which are necessary, in my opinion, to make it 
compatible with justice, with sound policy, or with the 
constitution of our country. 

The present corporate body, denominated the President, 



Jackson's bank veto. 293 

Directors, and Company of the Bank of the United States, 
will have existed, at the time this act is intended to take 
effect, twenty years. It enjoys an exclusive privilege of 
banking, under the authority of the general government, 
a monopoly of its favor and support, and, as a necessary 
consequence, almost a monopoly of the foreign and do- 
mestic exchange. The powers, privileges, and favors be- 
stowed upon it, in the original charter, by increasing the 
value of the stock far above its par value, operated as a 
gratuity of many millions to the stockholders. 

An apology may be found for the failure to guard 
against this result, in the consideration that the effect of 
the original act of incorporation could not be certainly 
foreseen at the time of its passage. The act before me 
proposes another gratuity to the holders of the same stock, 
and, in many cases, to the same men, of at least seven 
millions more. This donation finds no apology in any 
uncertainty as to the effect of the act. On all hands it is 
conceded that its passage will increase, at least, twenty or 
thirty per cent, more, the market price of the stock, sub- 
ject to the payment of the annuity of $200,000 per year 
secured by the act ; thus adding, in a moment, one fourth 
to its par value. It is not our own citizens only who are 
to receive the bounty of our government. More than 
eight millions of the stock of this bank are held by for- 
eigners. By this act, the American republic proposes vir- 
tually to make them a present of some millions of dollars. 
For these gratuities to foreigners, and to some of our own 
opulent citizens, the act secures no equivalent whatever. 
They are the certain gains of the present stockholders 
under the operation of this act, after making full allowance 
for the payment of the bonus. 

Every monopoly, and all exclusive privileges, are granted 
at the expense of the public, which ought to receive a fair 
equivalent. The many millions which this act proposes 
to bestow on the stockholders of the existing bank, must 
come directly or indirectly out of the earnings of the 
American people. It is due to them, therefore, if their 
government sell monopolies and exclusive privileges, that 
they should at least exact for them as much as they are 
worth in open market. The value of the monopoly in 
25* 



294 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

this case may be correctly ascertained. The twenty-eight 
millions of stock would probably be at an advance of fifty 
per cent., and command in the market at least forty-two 
millions of dollars, subject to the payment of the present 
bonus. The present value of the monopoly, therefore, is 
seventeen millions of dollars, which this act proposes to 
sell for three millions, payable in fifteen annual instal- 
ments of $200,000 each. 

It is not conceivable how the present stockholders can 
have any claim to the special favor of the government. 
The present corporation has enjoyed its monopoly during 
the period stipulated in the original contract. If we must 
have such a corporation, why should not the government 
sell out the whole stock, and thus secure to the people the 
full market value of the privileges granted 1 Why should 
not Congress create and sell twenty-eight millions of stock, 
incorporating the purchasers with all the powers and privi- 
leges secured in this act, and put the premium upon the 
sales into the treasury 1 

But this act does not permit competition in the purchase 
of this monopoly. It seems to me predicated on the er- 
roneous idea that the present stockholders have a prescrip- 
tive right not only to the favor, but to the bounty of gov- 
ernment. It appears that more than a fourth part of the 
stock is held by foreigners, and the residue is held by a 
few hundred of our own citizens, chiefly of the richest 
class. For their benefit does this act exclude the whole 
American people from competition in the purchase of this 
monopoly, and dispose of it for many millions less than il 
is worth. This seems the less excusable, because some of 
our citizens, not now stockholders, petitioned that the door 
of competition might be opened, and offered to take a char- 
ter on terms much more favorable to the government and 
country. 

But this proposition, although made by men whose ag- 
gregate wealth is believed to be equal to all the private 
stock in the existing bank, has been set aside, and the 
bounty of our government is proposed to be again bestowed 
on the few who have been fortunate enough to secure 
the stock, and at this moment wield the power of the ex- 
isting institution. I cannot perceive the justice or policy 



295 

of this course. If our government must sell monopolies, 
it would seem to be its duty to take nothing less than their 
fall value; and if gratuities must be made once in fifteen 
or twenty years, let them not be bestowed on the subjects 
of a foreign government, nor upon a designated and favored 
class of men in our own country. It is but justice and 
good policy, as far as the nature of the case will admit, to 
confine our favors to our own fellow-citizens, and let each 
in his turn enjoy an opportunity to profit by our bounty. 
In the bearings of the act before me, upon these points, 1 
find ample reasons why it should not become a law. 

It has been urged as an argument in favor of recharter- 
ing the present bank, that the calling in its loans will pro- 
duce great embarrassment and distress. The time allowed 
to close its concerns is ample ; and if it has been well 
managed, its pressure will be light, and heavy only in case 
its management has been bad. If, therefore, it shall pro- 
duce distress, the fault will be its own ; and it would 
furnish a reason against renewing a power which has been 
so obviously abused. But will there ever be a time when 
this reason will be less powerful ? To acknowledge its 
force, is to admit that the bank ought to be perpetual ; 
and, as a consequence, the present stockholders, and those 
inheriting their rights as successors, be established a priv- 
ileged order, clothed both with great political power, and 
enjoying immense pecuniary advantages from their con- 
nection with the government. 

The modifications of the existing charter, proposed by 
this act, are not such, in my view, as make it consistent 
with the rights of the states or the liberties of the people. 
The qualification of the right of the bank to hold real 
estate, the limitation of its power to establish branches, 
and the power reserved to Congress to forbid the circula- 
tion of small notes, are restrictions comparatively of little 
value or importance. All the objectionable principles of 
the existing corporation, and most of its odious features, 
are retained without alleviation. 

The fourth section provides " that the notes or bills of 
the said corporation, although the same be on the faces 
thereof, respectively, made payable at one place only, shall, 
nevertheless, be received by the said corporation at the 



£96 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

hank, or at any of the offices of discount and deposit there- 
of, if tendered in liquidation or payment of any balance or 
balances due to said corporation, or to such office of dis- 
count and deposit, from any other incorporated bank." 
This provision secures to the state banks a legal privilege 
in the Bank of the United States, which is withheld from 
all private citizens. If a state bank in Philadelphia owe 
the Bank of the United States, and have notes issued by 
the St. Louis branch, it can pay the debt with those notes ; 
but if a merchant, mechanic, or other private citizen, be in 
like circumstances, he cannot, by law, pay his debts with 
those notes; but must sell them at a discount, or send 
them to St. Louis to be cashed. This boon conceded to 
the state banks, though not unjust in itself, is most odious ; 
because it does not measure out equal justice to the high 
and the low, the rich and the poor. To the extent of its 
practical effect, it is a bond of union, among the banking 
establishments of the nation, erecting them into an interest 
separate from that of the people ; and its necessary ten- 
dency is to unite the Bank of the United States and the 
state banks in any measure which may be thought con- 
ducive to their common interest. 

The ninth section of the act recognizes principles of 
worse tendency than any provision of the present charter. 

It enacts that " the cashier of the bank shall annually 
report to the secretary of the treasury the names of all 
the stockholders who are not resident citizens of the 
United States ; and, on the application of the treasurer of 
any state, shall make out and transmit to such treasurer 
a list of stockholders residing in, or citizens of such state, 
with the amount of stock owned by each." Although this 
provision, taken in connection with a decision of the 
Supreme Court, surrenders, by its silence, the right of the 
states to tax the banking institutions created by this cor- 
poration, under the name of branches, throughout the 
Union, it is evidently intended to be construed as a con- 
cession of their right to tax that portion of the stock which 
may be held by their own citizens and residents. In this 
light, if the act becomes a law, it will be understood by 
the states, who will probably proceed to levy a tax equal to 
that paid upon the stock- of the banks incorporated by 



jackson's bank veto. 297 

themselves. In some states, that tax is now one per cent., 
either on the capital or on the shares, and that may be as- 
sumed as the amount which all citizens or resident stock- 
holders would be taxed under the operation of this act. 
As it is only the stock held in the states, and not that 
employed between them, which would be subject to tax- 
ation, and as the names of foreign stockholders are not to 
be reported to the treasurers of the states, it is obvious 
that the stock held by them will be exempt from this bur- 
den. Their annual profits will, therefore, be one per cent, 
more than the citizen stockholders ; and, as the annual 
dividends of the bank- may be safely estimated at seven 
per cent., the stock will be worth ten or fifteen per cent, 
more to foreigners than to citizens of the United States. 
To appreciate the effect which this state of things will 
produce, we must take a brief review of the operations 
and present condition of the Bank of the United States 
By documents submitted to Congress at the present ses- 
sion, it appears that on the 1st of January, 1832, of the 
twenty-eight millions of private stock in the corporation, 
$8,405,500 were held by foreigners, mostly of Great 
Britain. The amount of stock held in the nine Western 
and South-Western States, is $140,200, and in the four 
Southern States, is $5,623,100, and in the Middle and 
Eastern States, is about $13,522,000. The profits of the 
bank in 1831, as shown in a statement to Congress, were 
about $3,455,598 ; of this, there accrued in the nine West- 
ern States, about $1,640,048; in the four Southern States, 
about $352,507; and in the Middle and Eastern States, 
about $1,463,041. As little stock is held in the west, it 
is obvious that the debt of the people in that section, to 
the bank, is principally a debt to the eastern and foreign 
stockholders ; that the interest they pay upon it, is carried 
into the Eastern States, and into Europe ; and that it is a 
burden upon their industry, and a drain of their currency, 
which no country can bear without inconvenience and oc- 
casional distress. To meet this burden, and equalize the 
exchange operations of the bank, the amount of specie 
drawn from those states, through its branches, within the 
last two years, as shown by its official reports, was about 
$6,000,000. More than half a million of this amount does 



298 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

not stop in the Eastern States, but passes on to Europe, to 
pay the dividends of the foreign stockholders. In the 
principle of taxation recognized by this act, the Western 
States find no adequate compensation for this perpetual 
burden on their industry, and drain of their currency. 
The branch bank at Mobile made, last year, $95,140; yet, 
under the provisions of this act, the state of Alabama can 
raise no revenue from these profitable operations, because 
not a share of the stock is held by any of her citizens. 
Mississippi and Missouri are in the same condition, in re- 
lation to the branches at Natchez and St. Louis; and 
such, in a greater or less degree, is the condition of every 
Western state. The tendency of the p4an of taxation which 
this act proposes, will be to place the whole United States 
in the same relation to foreign countries which the Western 
States now bear to the Eastern. When, by a tax on resi- 
dent stockholders, the stock of this bank is made worth ten 
or fifteen per cent, more to foreigners than to residents, 
most of it will inevitably leave the country. 

Thus will this provision, in its practical effect, deprive 
the Eastern as well as the Southern and Western States, of 
the means of raising a revenue from the extension of 
business and great profits of the institution. It will make 
the American people debtors to aliens, in nearly the whole 
amount due to this bank, and send across the Atlantic 
from two to five millions of specie every year to pay 
the bank dividends. 

In another of its bearings this provision is fraught with 
danger. Of the twenty-five directors of this bank, five 
are chosen by the government, and twenty by the citizen 
stockholders. From all voice in these elections, the 
foreign stockholders are excluded by the charter. In pro- 
portion, therefore, as the stock is transferred to foreign 
holders, the extent of suffrage in the choice of directors 
is curtailed. 

Already is almost a third of the stock in foreign hands, 
and not represented in elections. It is constantly passing 
out of the country ; and this act will accelerate its de- 
parture. The entire control of the institution would 
necessarily fall into the hands of a few citizen stock- 
holders ; and the ease with which the object would be 



299 

accomplished, would be a temptation to designing men 
to secure that control in their own hands, by monopoliz- 
ing the remaining stock. There is danger that a presi- 
dent and directors would then be able to elect themselves 
from year to year, and, without responsibility or control, 
manage the whole concerns of the bank during the exist- 
ence of its charter. It is easy to conceive that great evils 
to our country and its institutions might flow from such 
a concentration of power in the hands of a few men, irre- 
sponsible to the people. 

Is there no danger to our liberty and independence in 
a bank, that in its nature has so little to bind it to our 
country ? The president of the bank has told us that 
most of the state banks exist by its forbearance. Should 
its influence become concentred, as it may under the 
operation of such an act as this, in the hands of a self- 
elected directory, whose interests are identified with those 
of the foreign stockholder, will there not be cause to trem- 
ble for the purity of our elections in peace, and for the 
independence of our country in war ? Their power would 
be great whenever they might choose to exert it ; but if 
this monopoly were regularly renewed every fifteen or 
twenty years, on terms proposed by themselves, they 
might seldom in peace put forth their strength to influence 
elections or control the affairs of the nation. But if any 
private citizen or public functionary should interpose to 
curtail its powers, or prevent a renewal of its privileges, 
it cannot be doubted that he would be made to feel its 
influence. 

Should the stock of the bank principally pass into the 
hands of the subjects of a foreign country, and we should 
unfortunately become involved in a war with that country, 
what would be our condition X Of the course which 
would be pursued by a bank almost wholly owned by the 
subjects of a foreign power, and managed by those whose 
interests, if not affections, would run in the same direction, 
there can be no doubt. All its operations within, would 
be in aid of the hostile fleets and armies without. Con- 
trolling our currency, receiving our public moneys, and 
holding thousands of our citizens in dependence, it would 



300 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

be more formidable and dangerous than the naval and 
military power of the enemy. 

If we must have a bank with private stockholders, 
every consideration of sound policy, and every impulse 
of American feeling, admonishes that it should be purely 
American. Its stockholders should be composed exclu- 
sively of our own citizens, who at least ought to be friendly 
to our government, and willing to support it in times of 
difficulty and danger. So abundant is domestic capital, 
that competition in subscribing for the stock of local banks 
has recently led almost to riots. To a bank exclusively 
of American stockholders, possessing the powers and privi- 
leges granted by this act, subscriptions for two hundred 
millions of dollars could be readily obtained. Instead of 
sending abroad the stock of the bank in which the gov- 
ernment must deposit its funds, and on which it must rely 
to sustain its credit in times of emergency, it would rather 
seem to be expedient to prohibit its sale to aliens under 
penalty of absolute forfeiture. 

It is maintained by the advocates of the bank, that its 
constitutionality, in all its features, ought to be considered 
as settled by precedent, and by the decision of the Su- 
preme Court. To this conclusion I cannot assent. Mere 
precedent is a dangerous source of authority, and should 
not be regarded as deciding questions of constitutional 
power, except where the acquiescence of the people and 
the states can be considered as well settled. So far from 
this being the case on this subject, an argument against 
the bank might be based on precedent. One Congress, in 
1791, decided in favor of a bank ; another, in 1811, decided 
against it. One Congress, in 1815, decided against a bank ; 
another, in 1816, decided in its favor. Prior to the present 
Congress, therefore, the precedents drawn from that source 
were equal. If we resort to the states, the expressions of 
legislative, judicial, and executive opinions against the 
bank have been probably to those in its favor as four to 
one. There is nothing in precedent, therefore, which, if 
its authority were admitted, ought to weigh in favor of 
the act before me. 

If the opinion of the Supreme Court covered the whole 



jackson's bank veto. 301 

ground of this act, it ought not to control the coordinate 
authorities of this government. The Congress, the ex- 
ecutive, and the court, must each for itself be guided by 
its own opinion of the constitution. Each public officer 
who takes an oath to support the constitution, swears 
that he will support it as he understands it, and not as it 
is understood by others. It is as much the duty of the 
House of Representatives, of the Senate, and of the Pres- 
ident, to decide upon the constitutionality of any bill or 
resolution which may be presented to them for passage 
or approval as it is of the supreme judges when it may 
be brought before them for judicial decision. The opinion 
of the judges has no more authority over Congress than 
the opinion of Congress has over the judges ; and on that 
point the President is independent of both. The authority 
of the Supreme Court must not, therefore, be permitted 
to control the Congress or the executive, when acting in 
their legislative capacities, but to have only such influence 
as the force of their reasoning may deserve. 

But in the case relied upon, the Supreme Court have 
not decided that all the features of this corporation are 
compatible with the constitution. It is true that the court 
have said that the law incorporating the bank is a consti- 
tutional exercise of power by Congress. But taking into 
view the whole opinion of the court, and the reasoning 
by which they have come to that conclusion, I understand 
them to have decided that, inasmuch as a bank is an ap- 
propriate means for carrying into effect the enumerated 
powers of the general government, therefore the law in- 
corporating it, is in accordance with that provision of the 
constitution which declares that Congress shall have power 
" to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper 
for carrying those powers into execution." Having satis- 
fied themselves that the word " necessary " in the consti- 
tution, means "needful" "requisite, "essential" "condu- 
cive to" and that " a bank " is a convenient, a useful, 
and essential instrument in the prosecution of the gov- 
ernment's " fiscal operations," they conclude that " to use 
one must be in the discretion of Congress," and that " the 
act to incorporate the Bank of the United States is a law 
made in pursuance of the constitution ; " " but," say they, 
26 



302 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

" where the law is not prohibited, and is really calculated 
to effect any of the objects intrusted to the government, 
to undertake here to inquire into the degree of its neces- 
sity, would be to pass the line which circumscribes the 
judicial department, and to tread on legislative ground." 

The principle here affirmed is, that the " degree of its 
necessity," involving all the details of a banking institu- 
tion, is a question exclusively for legislative consideration. 
A bank is constitutional ; but it is the province of the le- 
gislature to determine whether this or that particular power, 
privilege, or exemption, " is necessary and proper " to ena- 
ble the bank to discharge its duties to the government ; 
and from their decision there is no appeal to the courts of 
justice. Under the decision of the Supreme Court, there- 
fore, it is the exclusive province of Congress and the Pres- 
ident to decide whether the particular features of this act 
are necessary and proper, in order to enable the bank to 
perform conveniently and efficiently the public duties as- 
signed to it as a fiscal agent, and therefore constitutional ; 
or unnecessary and improper, and therefore unconctitu- 
tional. Without commenting on the general principle 
affirmed by the Supreme Court, let us examine the details 
of this act in accordance with the rule of legislative action 
which they have laid down. It will be found that many of 
the powers and privileges conferred on it, cannot be sup- 
posed necessary for the purpose for which it is proposed to 
be created, and are not, therefore, means necessary to at- 
tain the end in view, and consequently not justified by the 
constitution. 

The original act of incorporation, section 21st, enacts, 
" that no other bank shall be established, by any future 
law of the United States, during the continuance of the 
corporation hereby created, for which the faith of the 
United States is hereby pledged; Provided, Congress may 
renew existing charters for banks within the District of 
Columbia, not increasing the capital thereof; and may also 
establish any other bank or banks in said District, with 
capitals not exceeding in the whole six millions of dollars, 
if they shall deem it expedient." This provision is con- 
tinued in force by the act before me, fifteen years from the 
3d of March, 1836. 



303 

If Congress possessed the power to establish one bank, 
they had power to establish more than one, if, in their 
opinion, two or more banks had been " necessary " to fa- 
cilitate the execution of the powers delegated to them in 
the constitution. If they possess the power to establish a 
second bank, it was a power derived from the constitution, 
to be exercised from time to time, and at any time when 
the interests of the country or the emergencies of the gov- 
ernment might make it expedient. It was possessed by 
one Congress as well as another, and by all Congresses 
alike, and alike at every session. But the Congress of 
1816 have taken it away from their successors for twenty 
years, and the Congress of 1832 proposed to abolish it for 
fifteen years more. It cannot be " necessary " or "proper " 
for Congress to barter away, or divest themselves of any of 
the powers vested in them by the constitution to be ex- 
ercised for the public good. It is not " necessary " to the 
efficiency of the bank, nor is it "proper" in relation to 
themselves and their successors. They may "properly" 
use the discretion vested in them, but they may not limit 
the discretion of their successors. This restriction on 
themselves, and grant of a monopoly to the bank, is there- 
fore unconstitutional. 

In another point of view, this provision is a palpable 
attempt to amend the constitution by an act of legislation. 
The constitution declares that " the Congress shall have 
power to exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases what- 
soever," over the District of Columbia. Its constitutional 
power, therefore, to establish banks in the District of Co- 
lumbia, and increase their capital at will, is unlimited and 
uncontrollable by any other power than that which gave 
authority to the constitution. Yet this act declares that 
Congress shall not increase the capital of existing banks, 
nor create other banks with capitals exceeding in the whole 
six million of dollars. The constitution declares that Con- 
gress shall have power to exercise exclusive legislation 
over this District " in all cases whatsoever ;" and this act 
declares they shall not. Which is the supreme law of 
the land? This provision cannot be "necessary" or 
"proper" or "constitutional" unless the absurdity be ad- 
mitted, that, whenever it be " necessary and proper," in 



304 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

the opinion of Congress, they have a right to barter away 
one portion of the powers vested in them by the constitu- 
tion, as a means of executing the rest. 

On two subjects only does the constitution recognize in 
Congress the power to grant exclusive privileges or mo- 
nopolies. It declares that " Congress shall have power to 
promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing, 
for limited times, to authors and inventors the exclusive 
right to their respective writings and discoveries." 

Out of this express delegation of power have grown our 
laws of patents and copy-rights. As the constitution ex- 
pressly delegates to Congress the power to grant exclusive 
privileges, in these cases, as the means of executing the 
substantive power " to promote the progress of science and 
useful arts," it is consistent with the fair rules of construc- 
tion, to conclude that such a power was not intended to be 
granted as a means of accomplishing any other end. On 
every other subject which comes within the scope of con- 
gressional power there is an ever-living discretion in the 
use of proper means, which cannot be restricted or abol- 
ished without an amendment of the constitution. Every 
act of Congress, therefore, which attempts by grants or 
monopolies, or sales of exclusive privileges for a limited 
time, or a time without limit, to restrict or extinguish its 
own discretion in the choice of means to execute its dele- 
gated powers, is equivalent to a legislative amendment of 
the constitution, and palpably unconstitutional. 

This act authorizes and encourages transfers of its stock 
to foreigners, and grants them an exemption from all state 
and national taxation. So far from being " necessary and 
proper" that the bank should possess this power to make 
it a safe and efficient agent of the government in its fiscal 
operations, it is calculated to convert the Bank of the 
United States into a foreign bank, to impoverish our peo- 
ple in time of peace, to disseminate a foreign influence 
through every section of the republic, and in war, to en- 
danger our independence. 

The several states reserved the power, at the formation 
of the constitution, to regulate and control titles and trans- 
fers of real property ; and most, if not all of them, have laws 
disqualifying aliens from acquiring or holding lands within 



JACKSON S BANK VETO. 



ao5 



their limits. But this act, in disregard of the undoubted 
right of the states to prescribe such disqualifications, gives 
to aliens, stockholders in this bank, an interest and title, 
as members of the corporation, to all the real property it 
may acquire within any of the states of this Union. This 
privilege granted to aliens is not "necessary" to enable 
the bank to perform its public duties, nor in any sense 
"proper" because it is vitally subversive of the rights of 
the states. 

The government of the United States have no constitu- 
tional power to purchase lands within the states, except 
" for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, 
and other needful buildings ; " and even for these objects, 
only " by the consent of the legislature of the state in 
which the same shall be." By making themselves stock- 
holders in the bank, and granting to the corporation the 
power to purchase lands for other purposes, they assume a 
power not granted in the constitution, and grant to others 
what they do not themselves possess. It is not " necessary " 
to the receiving, safe-keeping, or transmission of the funds 
of the government, that the bank should possess this power ; 
and it is not "proper" that Congress should thus enlarge 
the powers delegated to them in the constitution. 

The old Bank of the United States possessed a capital 
of only eleven millions of dollars, which was found fully 
sufficient to enable it, with despatch and safety, to perform 
all the functions required of it by the government. The 
capital of the present bank is thirty-five millions of dollars, 
at least twenty-four more than experience has proved to be 
" necessary" to enable a bank to perform its public func- 
tions. The public debt which existed during the period 
of the old bank, and on the establishment of the new, has 
been nearly paid off, and our revenue will soon be reduced. 
This increase of capital is therefore not for public, but for 
private purposes. 

The government is the only "proper" judge where its 
agents should reside and keep their offices, because it best 
knows where their presence will be " necessary." It can- 
not, therefore, be " necessary " or "proper " to authorize 
the bank to locate branches where it pleases, to perform 
the public service, without consulting the government, and 
26* 



306 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

contrary to its will. The principle laid down by the Su- 
preme Court concedes that Congress cannot establish a 
bank for purposes of private speculation and gain, but 
only as a means of executing the delegated powers of the 
general government. By the same principle, a branch 
bank cannot constitutionally be established for other than 
public purposes. The power which this act gives to es- 
tablish two branches in any state, without the injunction 
or request of the government, and for other than public 
purposes, is not " necessary " to the due execution of the 
powers delegated to Congress. 

The bonus which is exacted from the bank is a con- 
fession, upon the face of the act, that the powers granted 
by it are greater than are "necessary" to its character of 
a fiscal agent. The government does not tax its officers 
and agents for the privilege of serving it. The bonus of 
a million and a half required by the original charter, and 
that of three millions proposed by this act, are not exacted 
for the privilege of giving " the necessary facilities for 
transferring the public funds from place to place, within 
the United States or the territories thereof, and for distrib- 
uting the same in payment of the public creditors, without 
charging commission or claiming allowance on account of 
the difference of exchange," as required by the act of in- 
corporation, but for something more beneficial to the stock- 
holders. The original act declares, that it (the bonus) is 
granted " in consideration of the exclusive privileges and 
benefits conferred by this act upon the said bank," and the 
act before me declares it to be " in consideration of the 
exclusive benefits and privileges continued by this act to 
the said corporation for fifteen years, as aforesaid." It is, 
therefore, for " exclusive privileges and benefits " conferred 
for their own use and emolument, and not for the advantage 
of the government, that a bonus is exacted. These surplus 
powers, for which the bank is required to pay, cannot surely 
be " necessary " to make it the fiscal agent of the treasury. 
If they were, the exaction of a bonus for them would not 
be "proper" 

It is maintained by some that the bank is a means of 
executing the constitutional power "to coin money and 
regulate the value thereof." Congress have established a 



jackson's bank veto. 307 

mint to coin money, and passed laws to regulate the value 
thereof. The money so coined, with the value so regu- 
lated, and such foreign coins as Congress may adopt, are 
the only currency known to the constitution. But if they 
have other power to regulate the currency, it was conferred 
to be exercised by themselves, and not to be transferred to 
a corporation. If the bank be established for that purpose, 
with a charter unalterable without its consent, Congress 
have parted with their power for a term of years, during 
which the constitution is a dead letter. It is neither ne- 
cessary nor proper to transfer its legislative power to such 
a bank, and therefore unconstitutional. 

By its silence, considered in connection with the decis- 
ion of the Supreme Court, in the case of McCulloch against 
the State of Maryland, this act takes from the states the 
power to tax a portion of the banking business carried on 
within their limits, in subversion of one of the strongest 
barriers which secured them against federal encroachments. 
Banking, like farming, manufacturing, or any other occu- 
pation or profession, is a business, the right to follow which 
is not originally derived from the laws. Every citizen and 
every company of citizens, in all of our states, possessed 
the right, until the state legislatures deemed it good policy 
to prohibit private banking by law. If the prohibitory 
state laws were now repealed, every citizen would again 
possess the right. The state banks are a qualified restora- 
tion of the right which has been taken away by the laws 
against banking, guarded by such provisions and limitations 
as in the opinion of the state legislatures the public interest 
requires. These corporations, unless there be an exemp- 
tion in their charter, are, like private bankers and bank- 
ing companies, subject to state taxation. The manner in 
which these taxes shall be laid, depends wholly on legisla- 
tive discretion. It may be upon the bank, upon the stock, 
upon the profits, or in any other mode which the sovereign 
power shall will. 

Upon the formation of the constitution the states guard- 
ed their taxing power with peculiar jealousy. They sur- 
rendered it only as regards imports and exports. In rela- 
tion to every other object within their jurisdiction, whether 
persons, property, business, or professions, it was secured 



308 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

in as ample a manner as it was before possessed. All 
persons, though United States' officers, are liable to a poll 
tax by the states within which they reside. The lands of 
the United States are liable to the usual land tax, except 
in the new states, from whom agreements that they will 
not tax unsold lands are exacted when they are admitted 
into the Union ; horses, wagons, any beasts or vehicles, 
tools or property belonging to private citizens, though 
employed in the service of the United States, are subject 
to state taxation. Every private business, whether car- 
ried on by an officer of the general government or not, 
whether it be mixed with the public concerns or not, even 
if it be carried on by the United States itself, separately 
or in partnership, falls within the scope of the taxing 
power of the state. Nothing comes more fully within it 
than banks, and the business of banking, by whomsoever 
instituted and carried on. Over this whole subject mat- 
ter, it is just as absolute, unlimited, and uncontrollable, 
as if the constitution never had been adopted, because in 
the formation of that instrument, it was reserved without 
qualification. 

The principle is conceded that the states cannot right- 
fully tax the operations of the general government. They 
cannot tax the money of the government deposited in the 
state banks, nor the agency of those banks in remitting it ; 
but will any man maintain that their mere selection to 
perform this public service for the general government, 
would exempt the state banks and their ordinary business 
from state taxation ? Had the United States, instead of 
establishing a bank at Philadelphia, employed a private 
banker to keep and transmit their funds, would it have 
deprived Pennsylvania of the right to tax his bank and 
his usual banking operations ? It will not be pretended. 
Upon what principle, then, are the banking establishments 
of the Bank of the United States, and their usual banking 
operations, to be exempted from taxation? It is not their 
public agency or the deposits of the government which the 
states claim a right to tax, but their banks, and their bank- 
ing powers, instituted and exercised within state jurisdic- 
tion for their private emolument, those powers and privi- 
leges for which they pay a bonus, and which the states tax 



309 

in their own banks. The exercise of these powers within 
a state, no matter by whom, or under what authority, 
whether by private citizens in their original right, by cor- 
porate bodies created by the states, by foreigners, or the 
agents of foreign governments located within their limits, 
forms a legitimate object of state taxation. From this and 
like sources, from the persons, property, and business that 
are found residing, located, or carried on under their 
jurisdiction, must the states, since the surrender of their 
right to raise a revenue from imports and exports, draw 
all the money necessary for the support of their govern- 
ments and the maintenance of their independence. There 
is no more appropriate subject of taxation than banks, 
banking, and bank stocks, and none to which the states 
ought more pertinaciously to cling. 

It cannot be " necessary " to the character of the bank 
as a fiscal agent of the government, that its private busi- 
ness should be exempted from that taxation to which all 
state banks are liable ; nor can I conceive it "proper " 
that the substantive and most essential powers reserved 
by the states shall be thus attacked and annihilated as a 
means of executing the powers delegated to the general 
government. It may be safely assumed that none of 
those sages who had an agency in forming or adopting 
our constitution, ever imagined that any portion of the 
taxing power of the states, not prohibited to them nor 
delegated to Congress, was to be swept away and annihi- 
lated, as a means of executing certain powers delegated to 
Congress. 

If our power over means is so absolute that the Su- 
preme Court will not call in question the constitutionality 
of an act of Congress, the subject of which " is not pro- 
hibited, and is really calculated to effect any of the objects 
intrusted to the government," although, as in the case 
before me, it takes away powers expressly granted to 
Congress, and rights scrupulously reserved to the states, 
it becomes us to proceed in our legislation with the ut- 
most caution. Though not directly, our own powers and 
the rights of the states may be indirectly legislated away 
in the use of means to execute substantive powers. We 
may not enact that Congress shall not have the power of 



310 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

exclusive legislation over the District of Columbia, but 
we may pledge the faith of the United States that, as a 
means of executing other powers, it shall not be exercised 
for twenty years, or forever. We may not pass an act 
prohibiting the states to tax the banking business carried 
on within their limits, but we may, as a means of execu- 
ting power over other objects, place that business in the 
hands of our agents, and then declare it exempt from 
state taxation in their hands. Thus may our own powers 
and the rights of the states, which we cannot directly 
curtail or invade, be frittered away and extinguished in 
the use of means employed by us to execute other powers. 
That a Bank of the United States, competent to all the 
duties which may be required by the government, might 
be so organized as not to infringe on our own delegated 
powers, or the reserved rights of the states, I do not en- 
tertain a doubt. Had the executive been called upon to 
furnish the project of such an institution, the duty would 
have been cheerfully performed. In the absence of such a 
call, it is obviously proper that he should confine himself 
to pointing out those prominent features in the act pre- 
sented, which, in his opinion, make it incompatible with 
the constitution and sound policy. A general discussion 
will now take place, eliciting new light, and settling im- 
portant principles ; and a new Congress, elected in the 
midst of such discussion, and furnishing an equal repre- 
sentation of the people according to the last census, will 
bear to the capitol the verdict of public opinion, and, I 
doubt not, bring this important question to a satisfactory 
result. 

Under such circumstances, the bank comes forward 
and asks a renewal of its charter for a term of fifteen 
years, upon conditions which not only operate as a gra- 
tuity to the stockholders of many millions of dollars, but 
will sanction any abuses and legalize any encroachments. 

Suspicions are entertained, and charges are made, of 
gross abuse and violation of its charter. An investigation 
unwillingly conceded, and so restricted in time as neces- 
sarily to make it incomplete and unsatisfactory, disclosed 
enough to excite suspicion and alarm. In the practices 
of the principal bank partially unveiled, in the absence of 



Jackson's bank veto. 311 

important witnesses, and in numerous charges confidently 
made, and as yet wholly uninvestigated, there was enough 
to induce a majority of the committee of investigation, a 
committee which was selected from the most able and 
honorable members of the House of Representatives, to 
recommend a suspension of further action upon the bill, 
and a prosecution of the inquiry. As the charter had yet 
four years to run, and as a renewal now was not necessary 
to the successful prosecution of its business, it was to have 
been expected that the bank itself, conscious of its purity, 
and proud of its character, would have withdrawn its ap- 
plication for the present, and demanded the severest scru- 
tiny into all its transactions. In their declining to do 
so, there seems to be an additional reason why the func- 
tionaries of the government should proceed with less haste 
and more caution in the renewal of their monopoly. 

The bank is professedly established as an agent of the 
executive branches of the government, and its consti- 
tutionality is maintained on that ground. Neither upon 
the propriety of present action, nor upon the provisions of 
this act, was the executive consulted. It has had no 
opportunity to say that it neither needs nor wants an agent 
clothed with such powers, and favored by such exemp- 
tions. There is nothing in its legitimate functions which 
makes it necessary or proper. Whatever interest or influ- 
ence, whether public or private, has given birth to this 
act, it cannot be found either in the wishes or necessities 
of the executive department, by which present action is 
deemed premature, and the powers conferred upon its 
agent not only unnecessary, but dangerous to the gov- 
ernment and country. 

It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often 
bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes. 
Distinctions in society will always exist under every just 
government. Equality of talents, of education, or of 
wealth, cannot be produced by human institutions. In 
the full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven, and the fruits 
of superior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is 
equally entitled to protection by law. But when the laws 
undertake to add to these natural and just advantages, 
artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and ex- 



312 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

elusive privileges, to make the rich richer, and the potent 
more powerful, the humble members of society, the farm- 
ers, mechanics, and laborers, who have neither the time 
nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have 
a right to complain of the injustice of their government. 
There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils 
exist only in its abuses. If it would confine itself to 
equal protection, and, as Heaven does its rains, shower its 
favors alike on the high and the low, the rich and the 
poor, it would be an unqualified blessing. In the act 
before me, there seems to be a wide and unnecessary 
departure from these just principles. 

Nor is our government to be maintained, or our Union 
preserved, by invasion of the rights and powers of the 
several states. In thus attempting to make our general 
government strong, we make it weak. Its true strength 
consists in leaving individuals and states, as much as 
possible, to themselves ; in making itself felt, not in its 
power, but in its beneficence; not in its control, but in its 
protection ; not in binding the states more cicely to the 
centre, but leaving each to move unobstructed in its 
proper orbit. 

Experience should teach us wisdom. Most of the diffi- 
culties our government now encounters, and most of the 
dangers which impend over our Union, have sprung from 
an abandonment of the legitimate objects of government 
by our national legislation, and the adoption of such prin- 
ciples as are imbodied in this act. Many of our rich men 
have not been content with equal protection and equal 
benefits, but have besought us to make theirs richer by act 
of Congress. By attempting to gratify their desires, we 
have, in the results of our legislation, arrayed section 
against section, interest against interest, and man against 
man, in a fearful commotion, which threatens to shake 
the foundations of our Union. It is time to pause in our 
career, to review our principles, and, if possible, revive 
that devoted patriotism and spirit of compromise which 
distinguished the sages of the revolution and the fathers 
of our Union. If we cannot at once, in justice to the 
interests vested under improvident legislation, make our 
government what it ought to be, we can at least take a 



tyler's first bank veto. 313 

stand against all new grants of monopolies and exclusive 
privileges, against any prostitution of our government to 
the advancement of the few at the expense of the many, 
and in favor of compromise and gradual reform in our 
code of laws and system of political economy. 

I have now done my duty to my country. If sustained 
by my fellow-citizens, I shall be grateful and happy ; if 
not, I shall find in the motives which impel me, ample 
grounds for contentment and peace. In the difficulties 
which surround us, and the dangers which threaten our 
institutions, there is cause for neither dismay nor alarm. 
For relief and deliverance, let us firmly rely on that kind 
Providence which, I am sure, watches with peculiar care 
over the destinies of our republic, and on the intelligence 
and wisdom of our countrymen. Through His abundant 
goodness, and their patriotic devotion, our liberty and 
union will be preserved. 



TYLER'S FIRST BANK VETO, 

August 16, 1341. 

To the Senate of the United States : 

The bill entitled " An act to incorporate the subscribers 
to the Fiscal Bank of the United States," which origina- 
ted in the Senate, has been considered by me, with a sin- 
cere desire to conform my action in regard to it to that 
of the two Houses of Congress. By the constitution it 
is made my duty either to approve the bill by the signing 
act, or to return it, with my objections, to the house in 
which it originated. I cannot conscientiously give it my 
approval, and I proceed to discharge the duty required of 
me by the constitution — to give my reasons for disap- 
proving. 

The power of Congress to create a national bank to op- 
erate per se over the Union, has been a question of dis- 
pute from the origin of our government. Men most justly 
and deservedly esteemed for their high intellectual en- 
27 



314 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

dowments, their virtue, and their patriotism, have, in re- 
gard to it, entertained different and conflicting opinions. 
Congresses have differed. The approval of one President 
has been followed by the disapproval of another. The 
people at different times have acquiesced in decisions both 
for and against. The country has been, and still is, deeply 
agitated by this unsettled question. It will suffice for me 
to say, that my own opinion has been uniformly pro- 
claimed to be against the exercise of any such power by 
this government. On all suitable occasions, during a pe- 
riod of twenty-five years, the opinion thus entertained 
has been unreservedly expressed. I declared it in the 
legislature of my native state. In the House of Repre- 
sentatives of the United States it has been openly vindi- 
cated by me. 

In the Senate chamber, in the presence and hearing 
of many who are at this time members of that body, it 
has been affirmed and re-affirmed, in speeches and re- 
ports there made, and by votes there recorded. In popu- 
lar assemblies I have unhesitatingly announced it ; and 
the last public declaration which I have made, and that 
but a short time before the late presidential election, I re- 
ferred to my previously expressed opinions as being those 
then entertained by me ; with a full knowledge of the 
opinions thus entertained, and never conceded, I was 
elected by the people Vice-President of the United States. 
By the occurrence of a contingency provided for by the 
constitution, and arising under an impressive dispensa- 
tion of Providence, I succeeded to the presidential office. 
Before entering upon the duties of that office, I took an 
oath that I would " preserve, protect, and defend the con- 
stitution of the United States." 

Entertaining the opinions alluded to, and having taken 
this oath, the Senate and the country will see that I could 
not give my sanction to a measure of the character de- 
scribed, without surrendering all claim to the respect of 
honorable men — all confidence on the part of the people 
— all self-respect — all regard for moral and religious ob- 
ligations; without an observance of which, no govern- 
ment can be prosperous, and no people can be happy. 
It would be to commit a crime which I would not wil- 



tyler's first bank veto. 315 

fully commit to gain any earthly reward, and which would 
justly subject me to the ridicule and scorn of all virtu- 
ous men. 

I deem it entirely unnecessary at this time to enter upon 
the reasons which have brought my mind to the convic- 
tions I feel and entertain on this subject. They have over 
and over again been repeated. If some of those who have 
preceded me in this high office have entertained and 
avowed different opinions, I yield all confidence that their 
convictions were sincere. I claim only to have the same 
measure meted out to myself. Without going further into 
the argument, I will say that, in looking to the powers of 
this government to collect, safely keep, and disburse the 
public revenue, and incidentally regulate the commerce 
and exchanges, I have not been able to satisfy myself that 
the establishment, by this government, of a bank of dis- 
count, in the ordinary acceptation of that term, was a 
necessary means, or one demanded by propriety, to execute 
those powers. What can the local discounts of a bank 
have to do with the collecting, safe-keeping, and disbursing 
of the revenue 1 

So far as the mere discounting of a paper is con- 
cerned, it is quite immaterial to this question, whether the 
discount is obtained at a state bank or a United States 
Bank. 

They are both equally local — both beginning and both 
ending in a local accommodation. What influence have 
local discounts, granted by any form of banks, in the reg- 
ulating of the currency and the exchanges ? Let the his- 
tory of the late United States Bank aid us in answering 
this inquiry. 

For several years after the establishment of that insti- 
tution, it dealt almost exclusively in local discounts, and 
during that period the country was, for the most part, 
disappointed in the consequences anticipated from its in- 
corporation. A uniform currency was not provided, ex- 
changes were not regulated, and little or nothing was 
added to the general circulation; and in 1820 its em- 
barrassments had become so great, that the directors peti- 
tioned Congress to repeal that article of the charter which 



316 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

made its notes receivable every where, in payment of 
public dues. 

It had, to that period, dealt to but a very small extent 
in exchanges, either foreign or domestic ; and as late as 
1832, its operations in that line amounted to little more 
than $7,000,000 per annum : a very rapid augmentation 
soon after occurred, and in 1833 its dealings in the ex- 
changes amounted to upward of $100,000,000, including 
the sales of its own drafts ; and all these immense trans- 
actions were effected without the employment of extraor- 
dinary means. The currency of the country became 
sound, and the negotiations in the exchanges were carried 
on at the lowest possible rates. 

The circulation was increased to more than $22,000,000, 
and the notes of the bank were regarded as equal to 
specie all over the country ; thus showing, most conclu- 
sively, that it was their capacity to deal in exchanges, 
and not in local discounts, which furnished these facili- 
ties and advantages. It may be remembered, too, that 
notwithstanding the immense transactions of the bank, 
in the purchase of exchange, the losses were merely nom- 
inal, while in the time of discounts, the suspended debt 
was enormous, and found most disastrous to the bank 
and the country. Its power of local discount has, in 
fact, proved to be a fruitful source of favoritism and cor- 
ruption, alike destructive to the public morals and to the 
general weal. 

The capital invested in banks of discount in the United 
States at this time exceeds $350,000,000 ; and if the dis- 
counting of local paper could have produced any benefi- 
cial effects, the United States ought to possess the sound- 
est currency in the world ; but the reverse is lamentably 
the fact. 

Is the measure now under consideration of the objec- 
tionable character to which I have alluded 1 It is clearly 
so, unless by the 16th fundamental article of the 11th 
section it is made otherwise. That article is in the fol- 
lowing words : — 

" The directors of the said corporation shall establish 
one competent office of discount and deposit in any state 



tyler's first bank veto. 317 

in which two thousand shares shall have been subscribed, 
or may be held, whenever, upon application of the legis- 
lature of such state, Congress may, by law, require the 
same. And the said directors may also establish one or 
more competent offices of discount and deposit in any ter- 
ritory or district of the United States, and in any state, 
with the assent of such state ; and when established, the 
said office or offices shall be only withdrawn or removed 
by the said directors, prior to the expiration of this char- 
ter, with the previous assent of Congress. 

" Provided, in respect to any state which shall not, at 
the first session of the legislature thereof, held after the 
passage of this act, by resolution, or other usual legisla- 
tive proceeding, unconditionally assent or dissent to the 
establishment of such office or offices within it, such assent 
of the said state shall be thereafter presumed : and provided, 
nevertheless, That, whenever it shall become necessary and 
proper for carrying into execution any of the powers granted 
by the Constitution, to establish an office or offices in any 
of the states whatever, and the establishment thereof shall 
be directed by law, it shall be the duty of the said directors 
to establish such office or offices accordingly." 

It will be seen by this clause that the directors are 
invested with the fullest power to establish a branch in 
any state which has yielded its assent, and, having es- 
tablished such branch, it shall not afterward be withdrawn 
except by order of Congress. Such assent is to be implied, 
and to have the force and sanction of an actually expressed 
assent, "provided, in respect to any state which shall not, 
at the first session of the legislature held thereof after the 
passage of this act, by resolution or other usual legislative 
proceeding, unconditionally assent or dissent to the estab- 
lishment of such office or offices within it, such assent 
of such state shall be presumed." The assent or dissent 
is to be expressed unconditionally, at the first session of the 
legislature, by some formal legislative act; and if not so 
expressed, its assent is to be implied, and the directors are 
therefore invested with power, at such time thereafter as 
they may please, to establish branches, which cannot after- 
ward be withdrawn, except by resolve of Congress : no 
matter what may be the cause which may operate with the 
27* 



318 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

legislature, which either prevents it from speaking, or ad- 
dresses itself to its wisdom to induce delay, its assent is to 
be implied — binding and inflexible. It is the lawgiver of 
the master to the vassal; an unconditional answer is claimed 
forthwith, and delay, postponement, or incapacity to an- 
swer, produces an implied assent, which is ever after 
irrevocable. 

Many of the state elections have already taken place, 
without any knowledge on the part of the people, that such 
a question was to come up. The representatives may de- 
sire a submission of the question to their constituents pre- 
paratory to final action upon it, but this high privilege is 
denied ; whatever may be the motives and views entertained 
by the representatives of the people to induce delay, their 
assent is to be presumed, and is ever afterward binding, 
unless their dissent shall be unconditionally expressed at 
their first session after the passage of this bill into a law. 

They may by formal resolution declare the question of 
assent or dissent to be undecided and postponed, and yet, 
in opposition to their express declaration to the contrary, 
their assent is to be implied. Cases innumerable might be 
cited to manifest the irrationality of such an inference. 
Let one or two in addition suffice — the popular branch of 
the legislature may express the dissent by a unanimous 
vote, and its resolution may be defeated by the vote of 
the Senate ; and yet the assent is to be implied. Both 
branches of the legislature may concur in a resolution of 
decided dissent, and yet the governor may exert the veto 
power conferred on him by the state constitution, and 
their legislative action be defeated ; and yet the assent of 
the legislative authority is implied, and the directors of 
this contemplated institution are authorized to establish a 
branch or branches in such state, whenever they may find 
it conducive to the interest of the stockholders to do so ; 
and having once established it, they can under no circum- 
stances withdraw it, except by an act of Congress. 

The state may afterward protest against any such unjust 
inference — but its authority is gone. Its assent is implied 
by its failure or inability to act at its first session, and its 
voice can never afterward be heard. To inferences so 
violent, and, as they seem to me, irrational, I cannot yield 



319 

my consent. No court of justice would or could sanction 
them, without reversing all that is established in judicial 
proceedings, by introducing presumptions at variance to the 
fact, and inferences at the expense of reason. A state in a 
condition of duress would be presumed to speak, as an in- 
dividual manacled and imprisoned might be presumed to 
be in the enjoyment of freedom. Far better to say to the 
states boldly and frankly — Congress wills, and submis- 
sion is demanded. 

It may be said that the directors may not establish 
branches under such circumstances ; but this is a question 
of power, and this bill invests them with full power to do 
so. If the legislature of New York, or Pennsylvania, or any 
other state, should be found in such condition as I have 
supposed, could there be any security furnished against 
such a step on the part of the directors? Nay, is it not 
fairly to be presumed that this proviso was introduced for 
the sole purpose of meeting the contingency referred to 1 
Why else should it have been introduced 1 

And I would submit to the Senate, whether it can be 
believed, that any state would be likely to sit quietly down, 
under such a state of things 1 In a great measure of pub- 
lic interest their patriotism may be successfully appealed 
to ; but to infer their assent from circumstances at war with 
such inference, I cannot but regard as calculated to excite 
a feeling at fatal enmity with the peace and harmony of 
the country. I must therefore regard this clause as assert- 
ing the power to be in Congress to establish offices of dis- 
count in a state, not only without its assent, but against its 
dissent ; and so regarding it, I cannot sanction it. 

On general principles, the right in Congress to pre- 
scribe terms to any state, implies a superiority of power 
and control, deprives the transaction of all pretence to the 
compact between them, and terminates, as we have seen, 
in the total abrogation of freedom and action on the part 
of the states. But fourth ; the state may express, after the 
most solemn form of legislation, its dissent, which may 
from time to time thereafter be repeated, in full view of its 
own interest, which can never be separated from the wise 
and beneficent operations of this government ; and yet 
Congress may, by virtue of the last proviso, overrule its 
law. and upon grounds which, to such state, will appear 



3-20 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 



to rest on a constructive necessity and propriety, and 
nothing more. 

I regard the bill as asserting for Congress the right to 
incorporate a United States Bank, with power and right to 
establish offices of discount and deposit in the several 
states of this Union, with or without their consent — a prin- 
ciple to which I have always heretofore been opposed, and 
which can never obtain my sanction. And waiving all 
other considerations growing out of its other provisions, I 
return it to the house in which it originated with these my 
objections to its approval, 



TYLER'S SECOND BANK VETO. 

September 9, 1841. 

To the House of Representatives of the United States : 

It is with extreme regret that I feel myself constrained., 
by the duty faithfully to execute the office of President of 
the United States, and to the best of my ability " to pre- 
serve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United 
States," to return to that house in which it originated the 
bill " to provide for the better collection, safe-keeping, 
and disbursement of the public revenue by means of a 
corporation to be styled the Fiscal Corporation of the 
United States," with my written objections. 

In my message sent to the Senate on the 16th day of 
August last, returning the bill " to incorporate the sub- 
scribers to the Fiscal Bank of the United States," I dis- 
tinctly declared that " my own opinion has been uniformly 
proclaimed to be against the exercise of the power of 
Congress to create a national bank, to operate per se over 
the Union," and entertaining that opinion, my main ob- 
jection to that bill was based upon the highest moral and 
religious obligations of conscience and the constitution. 
I readily admit, that, whilst the qualified Veto with 
which the chief magistrate is invested, should be re- 
garded, and was intended by the wise men who made it a 
part of the constitution, as a great conservative principle 



321 

of our system, without the exercise of which, on important 
occasions, a mere representative majority might urge the 
government, in its legislation, beyond the limits fixed by 
its framers, or might exert its just powers too hastily or 
oppressively, yet it is a power which ought to be most 
cautiously exerted, and perhaps never, except in a case 
eminently involving the public interest, or one in which 
the oath of the President, acting under his convictions, 
both mental and moral, imperiously requires its exercise. 
In such a case, he has no alternative. He must either 
exert the negative power intrusted to him by the constitu- 
tion chiefly for its own preservation, protection, and de- 
fence, or commit an act of gross moral turpitude. Mere 
regard to the will of a majority, must not, in a constitutional 
republic like ours, control this sacred and solemn duty 
of a sworn officer. The constitution itself I regard and 
cherish as the imbodied and written will of the whole peo- 
ple of the United States. It is their fixed and fundamental 
law, which they unanimously prescribe to the public func- 
tionaries, their mere trustees and servants. This their 
will, and the law which they have given us as the rule of 
our action, has no guard, no guaranty of preservation, 
protection, and defence, but the oaths which it prescribes 
to public officers, the sanctity with which they shall reli- 
giously observe those oaths, and the patriotism with which 
the people shall shield it by their own sovereignty, which 
has made the constitution supreme. It must be exerted 
against the will of a mere representative majority, or not at 
all. It is alone in pursuance of that will that any measure 
can ever reach the President; and to say, because a ma- 
jority in Congress have passed a bill, the President should 
therefore sanction it, is to abrogate the power altogether, 
and to render its insertion in the constitution a work of 
absolute supererogation. The duty is to guard the funda- 
mental will of the people themselves from — in this case I 
admit unintentional — change or infraction by a majority 
in Congress; and in that light alone do I regard the con- 
stitutional duty which I now most reluctantly discharge. 

Is this bill, now presented for my approval, such a bill 
as I have already declared could not receive my sanction? 
Is it such a bill as calls for the exercise of the negative 



322 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

power under the constitution ? Does it violate the consti 
tution by creating a national bank to operate per se over 
the Union? Its title, in the first place, describes its gen- 
eral character. It is " An act to provide for the better 
collection, safe-keeping, and disbursement of the public 
revenue by means of a corporation, to be styled the Fiscal 
Corporation of the United States" In style, then, it is 
plainly national in its character. Its powers, functions, 
and duties, are those pertaining to the collecting, keeping, 
and disbursing the public revenue. The means by which 
these are to be exerted, is a corporation, to be styled the 
Fiscal Corporation of the United States. It is a corpora- 
tion created by the Congress of the United States, in its 
character of a national legislature for the whole Union, to 
perform the fiscal purposes, meet the fiscal wants and exi- 
gencies, supply the fiscal uses, and exert the fiscal agencies 
of the treasury of the United States. Such is its own de- 
scription of itself. Do its provisions contradict its own 
title? They do not. It is true, that by its first section it 
provides that it shall be established in the District of Co- 
lumbia, but the amount of its capital — the manner in 
which its stock is to be subscribed for and held — the per- 
sons and bodies corporate and politic by whom its stock 
may be held — the appointment of its directors, and their 
powers and duties — its fundamental articles, especially 
that to establish agencies in any part of the Union — the 
corporate powers and business of such agencies — the pro- 
hibition of Congress to establish any other corporation, 
with similar powers, for twenty years, with express res- 
ervation, in the same clause, to modify or create any bank 
for the District of Columbia so that the aggregate capital 
shall not exceed five millions — without enumerating other 
features which are equally distinctive and characteristic — 
clearly show that it cannot be regarded as other than a 
Bank of the United States, with powers seemingly more 
limited than have heretofore been granted by such an in- 
stitution. It operates per se over the Union, by virtue of 
the unaided, and, in my view, assumed authority of Con- 
gress as a national legislature, as distinguished from a 
bank created by Congress for the District of Columbia, as 
the local legislature of the District. Every United States 



323 

Bank heretofore created has had power to deal in bills of 
exchange as well as local discounts. Both were trading 
privileges conferred, and both exercised by virtue of the 
aforesaid power of Congress, over the whole Union. The 
question of power remains unchanged, without reference 
to the extent of privilege granted. If this proposed cor- 
poration is to be regarded as a local bank of the District 
of Columbia, invested by Congress with general powers to 
operate over the Union, it is obnoxious to still stronger 
objections. It assumes that Congress may invest a local 
institution with general or national powers. With the 
same propriety that it may do this in regard to a bank of 
the District of Columbia, it may as to a state bank. Yet 
who can indulge the idea that this government can right- 
fully, by making a state bank its fiscal agent, invest it 
with the absolute and unqualified powers conferred by this 
bill ? When I come to look to the details of the bill, they 
do not recommend it strongly to my adoption. A brief 
notice of some of its provisions will suffice: — 

1st. It may justify substantially a system of discounts of 
the most objectionable character. It is to deal in bills 
of exchange drawn in one state and payable in another, 
without any restraint. The bill of exchange may have an 
unlimited term to run, and its renewability is nowhere 
guarded against. It may, in fact, assume the most ob- 
jectionable form of accommodation. It is not required to 
rest on any actual, real, or substantial exchange basis. A 
drawer in one place becomes the acceptor in another, and 
so in turn the acceptor may become the drawer upon a 
mutual understanding. It may at the same time indulge 
in mere local discounts under the name of bills of ex- 
change. A bill drawn at Philadelphia on Camden, New 
Jersey — at New York on Bordentown in New Jersey — 
at Cincinnati on Newport, Kentucky, not to multiply other 
examples, might for any thing in this bill to restrain it, be- 
come a mere matter of local accommodation. Cities thus 
relatively situated would possess advantages over cities 
otherwise situated, of so decided a character as most justly 
to excite dissatisfaction. 

2d. There is no limit prescribed to the premium in the 
purchase of bills of exchange, thereby correcting none of 



324 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

the evils under which the community now labors, and 
operating most injuriously upon the agricultural states, in 
which the inequalities in the rates of exchange are most 
severely felt. Nor are these the only consequences : a re- 
sumption of specie payments by the banks of those states 
would be liable to indefinite postponement; for, as the 
operation of the agencies of the interior would chiefly con- 
sist in selling bills of exchange, and the purchases could 
only be made in specie or the notes of banks paying specie, 
the state banks would either have to continue with their 
doors closed, or exist at the mercy of this national monop- 
oly of brokerage. Nor can it be passed over without re- 
mark, that, whilst the District of Columbia is made the seat 
of the principal bank, its citizens are excluded from all 
participation in any benefit it might afford, by a positive 
prohibition on the bank from all discounting within the 
District. 

These are some of the objections which prominently 
exist against the details of the bill ; others might be urged 
of much force ; but it would be unprofitable to dwell upon 
them. Suffice it to add, that this charter is designed to 
continue for twenty years without a competitor — that the 
defects to which I have alluded, being founded in the 
fundamental law of the corporation, are irrevocable — and 
that if the objections be well founded, it would be over- 
hazardous to pass the bill into a law. 

In conclusion, I take leave most respectfully to say, that 
I have felt the most anxious solicitude to meet the wishes 
of Congress in the adoption of a fiscal agent which, avoid- 
ing all constitutional objections, should harmonize con- 
flicting opinions. Actuated by this feeling, I have been 
ready to yield much, in a spirit of conciliation, to the 
opinions of others. And it is with great pain that I now 
feel compelled to differ from Congress a second time in 
the same session. At the commencement of this ses- 
sion, inclined from choice to defer to the legislative 
will, I submitted to Congress the propriety of adopting 
a fiscal agent which, without violating the constitution, 
would separate the public money from the executive con- 
trol, perform the operations of the treasury without being 
burdensome to the people, or inconvenient, or expensive 



tyler's second bank veto. 3 w 25 

to the government. It is deeply to be regretted, that this 
department of the government cannot, upon constitutional 
grounds, concur with the legislative department in this 
last measure proposed to attain these desirable objects. 
Owing to the brief space between the period of the death 
of my lamented predecessor and my own installation into 
office, I was, in fact, not left time to prepare and submit a 
definite recommendation of my own, in my regular mes- 
sage ; and since, my mind has been wholly occupied in a 
most anxious attempt to conform my action to the legisla- 
tive will. In this communication, I am confined by the 
constitution to my objections simply to this bill; but the 
period of the regular session will soon arrive, when it will 
be my duty, under another clause of the constitution, " to 
give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, 
and recommend to their consideration such measures as I 
shall judge necessary and expedient." And I most respect- 
fully submit, in a spirit of harmony, whether the present 
differences of opinion should be pressed further at this 
time, and whether the peculiarity of my situation does not 
entitle me to a postponement of this subject to a more au- 
spicious period for deliberation. The two houses of Con- 
gress have distinguished themselves, at this extraordinary 
session, by the performance of an immense mass of labor, 
at a season very unfavorable both to the health and 
action ; and have passed many laws, which, I trust, will 
prove highly beneficial to the interests of the country, and 
fully answer its just expectations. It has been my good 
fortune and pleasure to concur with them in all measures, 
except this. And why should our difference on this alone 
be pushed to extremes ? It is my anxious desire that it 
should not be. I, too, have been burdened with extraordi- 
nary labors of late, and I sincerely desire time for deep 
and deliberate reflection on this the greatest difficulty of 
my administration. May we not now pause, until a more 
favorable time, when, with the most anxious hope that the 
executive and Congress may cordially unite, some measure 
of finance may be deliberately adopted, promotive of the 
good of our common country 1 

I will take this occasion to declare that the conclusions 
to which I have brought myself, are those of a settled con- 
28 



326 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



viction, founded, in my opinion, on a just view of the con- 
stitution ; that, in arriving at it, I have been actuated by 
no other motive or desire, than to uphold the institutions 
of the country, as they have come down to us from the 
hands of our godlike ancestors ; and that I shall esteem 
my efforts to sustain them, even though I perish, more 
honorable than to win the applause of men by a sacrifice 
of my duty and my conscience. 



STATISTICAL TABLES. 



Extra Sessions of Congress. 

Congress has been called together on extraordinary occasions 
nineteen times since the formation of the government, as fol 
lows : — 



Septembei 


• 29, 


March 


2, 


May 


5, 


May- 


30, 


March 


3, 


May 


13, 


March 


3, 


March 


26, 


April 


22, 


January 


30, 


June 


24, 


July 


6, 


February 


27, 


July 


26, 


April 


13, 


April 


13, 


May 


13, 



1789 1st Monday in January, 



1791 

1792. 
1794. 
1797. 
1800. 
1803. 
1804. 
1808. 
1809. 
1809. 
1812. 
1813. 
1813. 
1814. 
1818. 
1820. 



.4th 
.1st 
• 1st 
.1st 
.3d 
.1st 
.1st 
.1st 
.4th 
.4th 
.1st 
,4th 
.1st 
.4th 
3d 
.2d 



October 

November, 

November, 

November, 

November, 

November, 

November, 

November, 

May, 

November, 

November, 

May, 

November, 

October, 

November, 

November, 



1791 
1791 

1792. 
1794. 
1797. 
1800. 
1803. 
1804. 
1808. 
1809 
1809. 
1812. 
1813. 
1813. 
1814. 
1818. 
1820. 



Mr. Van Buren's call was made in the spring of 1837, and Con- 
gress was convened the first Monday in September of the same year. 
President Harrison, on the 17th of March, 1841, called Congress to- 
gether on the last Monday in May, 1841. 



STATISTICAL TABLES. 



327 



Governors of the several States and Territories, 

With their Salaries, Terms of Office, and Expiration of their respective 
Terms ; the Number of Senators and Representatives in the State Legis- 
latures, with their respective Terms. 



Maine 

N. H. 

Vt. 

Mass. 

R.I. 

Conn. 

N. Y. 

N.J. 

Penn. 

Del. 

Md. 

Va. 

N.C. 

s. c. 

Ga. 

Ala. 

Miss. 

La. 

Ark. 

Tenn. 

Ken. 

Ohio, 

Mich. 

Ind. 

111. 

Mo. 

Territo. 

Flor. 

Wise. 

Iowa, 



John Fairfield, 
John Page, 
Charles Paine, 
John Davis, 
Samuel W. King, 
W. W. Ellsworth, 
Wm. H. Seward, 
Wm. Pennington, 
David R. Porter, 
William B. Cooper, 
Francis Thomas, 
J. Rutherford, Act. 
J. M. Morehead, 
J. P. Richardson, 
Ch. J. McDonald, 
Benj. Fitzpatrick, 
A. G. McNutt, 
A. B. Roman, 
Archibald Yell, 
James C. Jones, 
Robert P. Letcher, 
Thomas Corwin, 
J. W. Gordon, Act. 
Samuel Bigger, 
Thomas Carlin, 
Thomas Reynolds, 

Richard K. Call, 
James D. Doty, 
John Chambers, 





Gov. 


Salary. 


Term, 




years. 


1,500 


1 


1,200 


1 


750 


1 


3,666| 


1 


400 


1 


1,100 


1 


4,000 


2 


2,000 


1 


4,000 


3 


1,333^ 


3 


4,200 


3 


3,333£ 


3 


2,000 


2 


3,500 


2 


4,000 


2 


3,500 


2 


3,000 


2 


7,500 


4 


2,000 


4 


2,000 


2 


2,500 


4 


1,500 


2 


2,000 


2 


1,500 


3 


1,500 


4 


2,000 


4 


2,500 


3 


2,500 


3 


2,500 


3 



Term expires. 



Jan. 1843 
June,1842 
Oct. 1842 
Jan. 1842 
May, 1842 
May, 1842 
Jan. 1842 
Oct. 1842 
Jan. 1845 
Jan. 1844 
Jan. 1845 
Mar. 1842 
Jan. 1843 
Dec. 1842 
Nov. 1843 
Dec. 1843 
Jan. 1842 
Jan. 1843 
Nov. 1844 
Oct. 1843 
Sept. 1844 
Dec. 1842 
Jan. 1842 
Dec. 1843 
Dec. 1842 
Nov. 1844 

Dec. 1844 
May, 1844 
July, 1844 



CS • 


= r 


4*3 


M ~ 


£ >. 


ogg£ 


31 


1 


200 


12 


1 


250 


30 


1 


233 


40 


1 


356 


10 


1 


72 


21 


1 


208 


32 


4 


128 


14 


1 


50 


33 


3 


100 


9 


4 


21 


21 


5 


79 


32 


4 


134 


50 


2 


120 


45 


4 


124 


30 


1 


207 


30 


3 


100 


30 


4 


91 


17 


4 


50 


17 


4 


54 


25 


2 


75 


38 


4 


100 


36 


2 


72 


18 


2 


53 


30 


3 


62 


40 


4 


91 


18 


4 


49 


11 


2 


29 


13 


4 


26 


13 


2 


26 



In all the states, except New Jersey, Virginia, and South Carolina, 
the governor is voted for by the people ; and, if no one has a ma- 
jority of all the votes, in the states in which such a majority is re- 
quired, the legislature elects to the office of governor one of the 
candidates voted for by the people. 



328 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 









§1 8 

(jj O) S 



pq 


o 


2< |3 

3 S~3 




- 




Ul 

m 


H 


*^> 


O 


« 


^l ^ 


h-l 


H 










< 


n 








35 co .2 


PCS 


«1 




D 


w 


^1*2 s 


f- 


pi 


k 5^ 


G 


a 


*3v* 


5? 




^i: 


P^ 




a; -2^ 5 


XI 




s - x£ 


w 




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fJI 



-g« O) oq;$ iad s'?oq jo o|i«H 






O —I 


;• 


CC CM ft 35 


O CO 

oo-"- 1 


22 


67,726 
88,098 
65,675 
187,526 






1-h oojoo mm^fo 

oo t^ co co co ■"*< as t m 

C>j "O OJ in ft i-h t^ CO* o 

■*> O00 1C00 ft iO CO fN 

oo" r^^r-Tin" in^oTcf 

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ci cooico-tf iO(ot-w 



G'foo't^i-l' 
00 C) 00 o 

iflOSOtH 



•psAojcIina aSvija 



COO CO in " t~ ft ■— iffiOl 

t^ t- OtOCDOO tfCO^CO 

■^o^ coo^Tr^ cq^o^cn 

a: co m i-i oo i^- aT co~o~o" 

05 3< in O 00 CO Tfcnco 

co^ o^oq^m^ m ^1 co 

rt> eo ■<* ^ in co t-^r-^co^or 



co t — Co- 
ft r-- co co^ 
00 in r-^ in* 

t- CO —1 CO 



•p8A0ldu)3 sSlUSAy 

05 sJ3j|nvj3Q jo -iiiao j&d opua 



•av:3j^ ipsa 
ui paXolJ'Jja jaquJiiM 3IQ"AA 



jo saj-eg U10JJ A3U0JAI 



COCO CO 00 00 Ol Ol CD OJ OJ OOt 



•JOSJtQ pUB 3niI3A3a 
HJUJ8)UI JO S.lO)031[OO 



.1 



Z £ 

3 J 


CO 00 o> O — CO 
C^ ^ co r^ 00 


H — 1 00 
HOON 


$182 

7,306 

367 

196,672 

9,855 

32,393 





•J-B3^ 110B3 UI 1 

BiajltiBfSaJO JoquinN 3I0ttA\l 


r-(C0C0 COi-l CO 


*r ctco 


i.E •" l' s 9[BS pu«T JO SJ8AI303JJ| 


_s2£r xv J, pM»a p uu 3nuaA| 

i_c -3ai«"-'3) | III o SJ01031|00l 


CN 


Ml-C 


^ J « J -sujojsno jo sa6pai[oo| 


i-1 CO CO ^ n CO 


TJT-IOJ 



iqjortot co -sr o co t^oooo ^-njco^ 

mm t KOOIOIO OIOOICI 00)010 OOOO 

tf A i^t^-t^c^ t^h-t^t^ t^t^r^oo 00000000 



STATISTICAL TABLES. 



329 



*l 



CO 



o r- i 
£5 '"' H a C$gQ r~ »> 10 -i ci io co ■*" ct -" co . 

— ro m -f co ct ism-soo — 



oasw co Tr x co 

flOOjh; l-< 1-1 5* © 

' co od o io in od «6ioh 



r-l^-^S^ CC^lb^CT^ C6&SCDOJ 

nosh nf co~o ©" in iftb^ 

- — —l co c 



I 00 • 



W t^ T CO T o o r» 



<r x simio* o r- 

*f>o c?rz'S~r co"eo\g"oo t^cTcTco" 

_ r^ CO i— c O — X nOol-i -h Ol — 0! 

00 -"C^CT^ O^CO^O^'-O^ <01_Xj33 33 C^CO^CO^ in^CO CT^CO^ 

r^^"^" r-Tffreo'r-r «4\-T r-d-Tf-i r-T -^ct"co"ct" 



1 CO 00 ■ 



m — n tc 

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dddd 

00 O O i> 

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33 00 (~ X 



CO 



CO — . CO -T e -H — 00 CO X X O -OHIO X I- X CO OC1Q0O 

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CT^ o^co^ct^ 



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CO CT — i CT r-c riFiriH CT CT — i 0! CT 01 CT CT 



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28 



330 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 



Statement in Relation to the Disbursements of the Revenue of the United States, 
exclusive of Payments on Account of Public Debt and Trust Funds, from 4th 
March, 1789, to 4th March, 1837 ; exhibiting, also, the Number of Officers em- 
ployed in the Disbursement, the Amount of Defalcations ; with General Residts ; 
arranged in Periods of Four Years each. 





No. 
& 
ii 

5 

1 

3 

1 
3 

J 
1 
6 

7 

3 

5 
2 

4 
9 
6 

4 

3 

7 
8 

2 
10 
3 
8 
4 
5 
7 
~i 
5 
7 
12 
6 

6 

6 

3 
9 

7 
ill 

10 

8 

id 

8 
214 


of De- 
leters 

each 
r ear. 

a « 

§-3 

2 
1 

1 
1 

2 

7 

11 

17 

13 

14 

5 

9 

6 

7 

10 

29 

39 

39 

39 

213 
141 

170 
170 

147 

296 

247 

227 

146 

141 

90 

72 

43 

27 

22 

33 

10 

7 

4 

10 

8 

9 

10 

21 

2,516 


4 c 

d i> 

55 .S 

ll 


Amount of Defalcation in 
each Year. 


Aggregate 
Amount of De- 
falcation in 
each Period. 


i * 

II 


Amount of Ex- 
penditure in 
each Year, ex- 
clusive of Pub- 
lic Debt. 


Aggregate 
Amount of Ex- 


£ 


Civil. 


Military and 
Naval. 


penditure in each 

Period, exclusive 

of Public Debt and 

Trust Funds. 


1789 
1790 
1791 
1792 


3 
1 

3 

1 

4 

2 

6 

13 

18 

20 

18 

16 

5 

13 

15 

13 

14 

36 

42 
46 

47 

215 
151 
173 

178 

151 

301 

254 

334 

151 

148 

102 

78 

50 

27 

28 

39 

13 

16 

11 

20 

18 

17 

20 

29 


% 3,390.95 

12,050.56 

100.00 

18,953.40 

280.42 

13,531.58 

139,026.53 

10,275.65 

3,697.92 

3,955.76 

4,273.34 

11,128.29 

7,106,63 

9,390,76 

4,832.79 

27,411.37 

5,905.85 

29,593.99 

9,867.62 

748.58 

55,814.58 

18,893.94 

62,097.38 

5,910.24 

21,269.21 

46,281.56 

30,662.13 

17.158.11 

39,734.67 

54,381.80 

1,613.51 

21,657.41 

47,445.04 
8,453.63 
2,007.91 
18,349.01 
10,477.50 
0,506.74 

37,158.82 
24,121.30 
29,200.78 
23,303.33 


$ 1,498.18 
1,280.00 

344.27 

600.00 

136.22 

7,149.25 

5,771.27 

11,362.42 
14,656.50 
5,152.41 
11,321.07 

13,898.67 
10,229.81 
71,467.58 
24,514.17 
84,495.40 
41,503.93 
44,863.22 
216,711.35 

185,230.08 
293,978.55 
360,139.18 
210,919.77 
258,821.56 
185,044.40 
267,798.80 
391,365.25 

338,715.07 

267,050.38 

228,206.91 

39,782.08 

49,543.68 

22,404.28 

82,031.66 

95,851.79 

22,135.29 

24,656.00 

6,376.07 

14,994.36 

13,558.79 
13,115.25 
20,506.82 
69,368.23 


% 4,889.13 
32,728.23 


140 
140 
140 
433 
327 
380 
435 
457 
448 
475 
623 
594 
716 
588 
649 
536 
582 
586 
551 
665 

782 

811 

883 

942 

1,946 

2,166 

■J,22t; 

1,968 

1,541 

1,620 

1,557 

1,428 

1,244 

1,137 

934 

895 

848 
792 
829 
826 

825 
830 
882 
882 
924 
942 
971 
1,048 


$ 
1,919,589.52 
1,877,903.68 
1,710,070.26 
3,500,546.68 
4,350,658.04 
2,521,930.40 
2,823,590.96 
4,623,2-23.54 
6,480,166.72 
7,411,369.97 
4,981,669.90 
3,737,079.91 
4,002,824.24 
4,452,858.91 
6,357,224.70 
6,081,109.36 
4,984,572.89 
6,504,338.85 
7,414,672.14 
5,31 1 ,082.28 
5,592,604.86 
17,829,498.70 

28,082,396.92 
30,127,686.38 
36,953,571.00 
23,373,452.58 

15,454,609.92 
13,808,673.78 
16,300,273.44 
13,134,500.57 
10,723,479.07 
9,827,643.55 
9,784,154.59 
15,330,144.71 
11,490,459.94 
13,062,316.27 
12,254,448.9:2 
12,505,972.05 
12,651,457.24 
13,220,499.95 
13,8:3,786.20 
16,514,134.69 
•22,049,297.95 
18,4-20,467.12 
17,005,418.55 
29,655,244.46 


$ 3,797,493.20 


1793 

1794 
1795 
1796 


12,083,205.38 


1797 

1798 
1799 
1800 


176,770.92 


21,338,351.19 


1801 
1802 
1803 
1804 


54,419.42 


17,174,432.96 


1805 
1806 
1807 
1808 


152,568.70 


23,927,245.80 


1809 
1810 
1811 
1812 


.460,352.73 


36,147,857.98 


1813 
1814 
1815 
1816 


1,217,822.06 


108,537,106.88 


1817 
1818 
1819 
1820 


1,207,153.15 


58,698,057.71 


1821 
1822 
1823 
1824 


986,642.53 


45,665,421.92 


1825 

1826 
1827 

1828 


327,387.49 


49,313,197.18 


1829 
1830 
1831 
1832 


105,502.88 


56,249,878.08 


1833 
1834 
1835 
1836 


230,336.32 


87,130,428.08 


Total 


2,760 


898,023.59 


4,058,549.97 


4,956,573.56 






520,062,676.36 



STATISTICAL TABLES. 



331 



Exhibit of the Number of Persons indebted, and the Amount of Indebtedness, 
to the Government on Custom- House Bonds, embracing successive Periods 
of Four Years, from the -ith of March,ll89, to the 4£h of March, 1837; also 
the Amount of Duties collected during the same Period ; together with the 
actual Loss and Ratio of Loss to the Amount of Duties collected under each 
Administration. 



Year. 


2 
J 

1 

£ 

K 

10 
125 
148 
150 
208 
263 
446 
488 
431 
457 
209 
1,307 
4,242 


Whole Loss 

each Four 

Years. 


Whole Amount 
of Dudes collected 
each Four Years. 


►3 |? 

■3S»2 
o i- .Si 

HI 


From 4th March, 1789, to 4th March, 1793, 


$ 686.46 


12,097,850.50 


.0056 


From 4th March, 1793, to 4th March, 1797, 


82,359.84 


24,552,164.13 


.0033 


From 4th March, 1797, to 4th March, 1801, 


85,179.98 


33,548,222.90 


.0025 


From 4th March, 1801, to 4th March, 1805, 


61,872.69 


46,952,705.72 


.0013 


From 4th March, 1805, to 4th March, 1809, 


122,478.51 


54,172,790.94 


.0022 


From 4th March, 1809, to 4th March, 1813, 


374,654.23 


44,079,932.82 


.0084 


From 4th March, 1813, to 4th March, 1817, 


688,836.51 


75,871,937.67 
65,470,053.0! i 


.009065 


From 4th March, 1817, to 4th March, 1821, 


8=0,111.67 
1,568,476.17 


.01344 


From 4th March, 1821, to 4th March, 1825, 


74,655,234.54 


.02100 


From 4th March, 1825, to 4th March, 1829, 


2,278,558.47 


88,941,104.61 


.0256 


From 4th March, 1829, to 4th March, 1833, 


299,798.51 


103,644,579.31 


.002892 


From 4th March, 1833, to 4th March, 1837, 


1,305,305.45 


70,185,498.66 


.01859 


Total, 


7,748,318.89 


694,172,034.86 


.0111 







Average loss per head,. 



4h 



5.57. 



Table exhibiting the Seats of Government, the Times of Holding the Election 
of State Officers, and the Times of the Meeting of the Legislatures, of the 
several States. 



States. 



Maine, 

N. Hampshire, 

Vermont, 

Massachusetts, 

Rhode Island, 

Connecticut, 

New York, 

New Jersey, 

Pennsylvania, 

Delaware, 

Maryland, 

Virginia, 

North Carolina. 

South Carolina. 

Georgia, 

Alabama, 

Mississippi, 

Louisiana, 

Arkansas, 

Tennessee, 

Kentucky, 

Ohio, 

Indiana, 

Illinois, 

Missouri, 

Michigan, 



Seats of ijio 
ment. 



Augusta, 
Concord, 
.Montpelier, 
Boston, 
( Providence 
| and Newport 
Hart. & N. Hav 
Albany, 
Trenton, 
Harrisburg, 
Dover, 
Annapolis, 
Richmond, 
Raleigh, 
i Columbia, 
Milledgeville, 
Tuscaloosa, 
Jackson, 
New Orleans, 
Little Rock, 
Nashville, 
Frankfort, 
Columbus, 
Indianapolis, 
Springfield, 
Jefferson City, 
Detroit, 



Times of Holding Elections. 



2d Monday in Sept. 
2d Tuesday in March, 
1st Tuesday in Sept. 
2d Monday in Nov. 
Gov. and Sen. in April, 
Rep. in April and Aug. 
1st Monday in April, 
1st Monday in Nov. 
2d Tuesday in October, 
2d Tuesday in October, 
2d Tuesday in Nov. 
1st Wednesday in Oct. 
4th Thursday "in April, 
Commonly in August, 
2d Monday in October, 
1st Monday in October, 
1st Monday in August, 
1st Mon. &. Tues. Nov. 
1st Monday in July, 
1st Monday in October, 
1st Thursday in Aug. 
1st Monday in August, 
2d Tuesday in October, 
1st Monday in August, 
1st Monday in August, 
1st Monday in August, 
1st Monday in October, 



imes of the Meeting of the 
Legislatures. 



1st Wednesday in Jan. 
1st Wednesday in June. 
2d Thursday in October. 
1st Wednesday in Jan. 
1st Wed. in May &. June, 
last Wed. in Oct. and Jan. 
1st Wednesday in May. 
1st Tuesday in January 
4th Tuesday in October, 
1st Tuesday in January. 
1st Tuesday in Jan. bien. 
last Monday in December. 
1st Monday in December. 
2d Monday in Nov. bien. 
4th Monday in November. 
1st Monday in November. 
1st Monday in November 
1st Monday in Jan. bien. 
1st Monday in January. 
2d Monday in Oct. bien. 
1st Monday in Oct. bien. 
1st Monday in December. 
1st Monday in December. 
1st Monday in December. 
1st Monday in Dec. bien. 
1st Monday in Nov. bien. 
1st Monday in November. 



332 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 



Dates of the First Settlement of the several Colonies, 

Virginia 1607 

New York 1614 

Massachusetts 1620 

New Hampshire 1623 

New Jersey 1624 

Delaware 1627 

Maine 1630 



Maryland 1633 

Connecticut 1635 

Rhode Island 1636 

North Carolina 1650 

South Carolina 1670 

Pennsylvania 1682 

Georgia 1733 



Adoption of the first State Constitution. 

New Hampshire January 5 1776 

South Carolina March 24 1776 

Virginia June 29 1776 

New Jersey July 2 1776 

Maryland August 14 1776 

Pennsylvania September 1776 

Delaware September 1776 

North Carolina December 1776 

New York April 1 777 

Massachusetts March 1780 

Vermont July 4 1786 

Georgia May 1789 



Amount of Money expended in each State and Territory, by the 
United States, upon Works of Internal Improvement, from the 
Adoption of the Federal Constitution, to the 1st Day of October, 

1828. 



Maine $ 11,724 22 

Massachusetts 104,042 46 

Connecticut 2,069 97 

Rhode Island 195 19 

New York 68,138 45 

Pennsylvania 39,728 32 

Delaware 307,104 01 

Maryland 10,000 00 

Virginia 150,000 00 

North Carolina 1,000 00 

Kentucky 90,000 00 



Tennessee $ 4,200 00 

Ohio 390,159 03 

Indiana 108,123 88 

Mississippi 49,385 52 

Illinois 8,000 00 

Alabama 81,762 78 

Missouri 22,702 24 

Arkansas 44,690 00 

Michigan 48,607 95 

Florida 799,002 01 



Total $2,341,136 03 



Navy- Yards in the United States. 



Portsmouth, N. H. 
Charlestown. Mass. 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Philadelphia, Pa. 



Washington, D. C. 
Norfolk, Va. 
Pensacola, Fa. 
New Orleans, La. 



STATISTICAL TABLES. 333 



United States Mint. 



Officers of the Mint at Philadelphia. 



Salary. 

R. M. Patterson, Director. $3, 500 
Wm. Findlay, Treasurer.. 2,000 
Franklin Peale,C'Ai>/ Coiner 2,000 
J. R. Eckfeldt, Assay er. . . .2,000 



Salary. 

J. R. McClintock, Melt- > ^ nnn 

cr and Refiner $ *^» wu 

William Kneas, En graver . 1 ,500 
, 2d Engraver .1 ,500 



Officers of the Branch at New Orleans, La. 



Salary. 

J. M. Kennedy, Superin. $2,500 
Wm. P. Kort, Assayer,. . . 2,000 
John L. Riadel, Melt, fy Ref. 2,000 



Salary. 

Philos B. Tyler, Coiner ..$2,000 
Hor. C. Cammack, Treas. 2,000 



Officers of the Branch at Dahlonega, Ga. 

Salary. 

David M. Mason, Coiner.. 1,500 



J. J. Singleton, Superin. .$2,000 
J. W. Farnham, Assayer.. 1,500 



Officers of the Branch at Charlotte, N. C. 



Salary. 

J. H. Wheeler, Superin. .$2,000 
J. H. Gibbon, Assayer 1,500 



Salary. 

John R. Bolton, Coiner ..$1,500 



Number of Post Offices on the 1st of May, 1840. . . .13,376. 

Privilege of Franking. 

Letters and packets to and from the following officers of the 
government, are by law received and conveyed by post, free of 
postage : - 

The President and Vice-President of the United States, Secre- 
taries of State, Treasury, War, and Navy; Attorney-General; 
Postmasters- General, and Assistant Postmasters-General; Comp- 
trollers, Auditors, Register, and Solicitor of the Treasury ; Treas- 
urer ; Commissioner of the General Land Office; Commissioners 
of the Navy Board; Commissary-General; Inspectors- General ; 
Quartermaster-General; Pay master- General; Superintendent of 
Patent Office ; Speaker and Clerk of the House of Representa- 
tives ; President and Secretary of the Senate ; and any individual 
who shall have been, or may hereafter be, President of the United 
States ; and each may receive newspapers by post, free of postage. 

Each member of the Senate, and each member and delegate of 
the House of Representatives, may send and receive, free of post- 
age, newspapers, letters, and packets, weighing not more than two 
ounces, (in case of excess of weight, excess alone to be paid for,) 
and all documents printed by order of either house, from the period 



334 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



of sixty days before he takes his seat in Congress, till the next 
meeting of the next Congress. 

Postmasters may send and receive, free of postage, letters and 
packets not exceeding half an ounce in weight ; and they may re- 
ceive one daily newspaper each, or what is equivalent thereto. 

Printers of newspapers may send one paper to each and every 
other printer of newspapers within the United States, free of postage, 
under such regulations as the Postmaster- General may provide. 



United States Executive Government. 

The fourteenth presidential term of four years, since the estab- 
lishment of the government of the United States under the consti- 
tution, began on the 4th of March, 1841, and it will expire on the 
3d of March, 1845. 

Salary. 

William H. Harrison, Ohio, President $25,000 

John Tyler, Va., Vice-President, and President 

by the death of General Harrison. 



The Cabinet. 
The following are the principal officers in tne executive depart- 
ment of the government, who form the cabinet, and who hold their 
offices at the will of the President : — 

Salary. 

Samuel L. Southard, New Jersey, acting Vice-President. ...$5,000 

Daniel Webster, Mass., Secretary of State 6,000 

A. P. Upshur, Virginia, Secretary of the Navy 6,000 

John C. Spencer, New York, Secretary of War 6,000 

Walter Forward, Penn., Secretary of the Treasury 6,000 

Charles A. Wickliffe, Kentucky, Postmaster -General 6,000 

Hugh S. Legare, South Carolina, Attorney- General 4,000 

Officers of the Senate. 



Salary. 

Secretary $3,000 

Chief Clerk 1,800 

Executive Clerk 1 ,500 

First Legislative Clerk. . . .1,500 

Second do 1 ,500 

First Engrossing Clerk 1,500 



Salary. 

Second Engrossing Clerk . $1 ,500 

Sergeant at Arms and > .. ™^ 

Doorkeeper, } " " " ' 

Assistant Doorkeeper 1,450 

Messenger 700 



Officers of the House of Representatives. 

Salary 



Clerk of the House $3,000 

Chief Clerk of Office 1 ,800 

Ten Clerks in Office, each. 1,500 
Sergeant at Arras 1,500 



Salary. 

Doorkeeper 1,500 

Assistant Doorkeeper 1,450 

Postmaster 1 ,500 



STATISTICAL TABLES. 



335 



Librarian 



Library of Congress. 

Salary. I Salary. 

. . . .$1,500 Assistant Librarian $1,150 



Salary. 

Another $1,000 

Another 900 



Salaries in the different Departments of the General Government. 
Department of State. 

Salary. 

Secretary $6,000 

Chief Clerk 2,000 

Diplomatic Bureau. 

One Clerk 1,600 

Another 1,500 

Another 1,400 

Consular Bureau. 

Two Clerks, each 1,400 

Home Bureau. 
Two Clerks, each 1,400 



Translator 1,600 

Distributing Agent 1,400 

_ Patent Office. 
Commissioner of Patents .. 3,000 

Chief Clerk 1,700 

Two Examiners, each 1,500 



Treasury Department. 

Salary. 



Secretary $6,000 

Chief Clerk $2,000 

Comptrollers. 

1st Comptroller 3,500 

Chief Clerk 1,700 

2d Comptroller 3,000 

Chief Clerk 1,700 

Auditors. 

1st Auditor 3,000 

Chief Clerk 1,700 

2d Auditor 3,000 

Chief Clerk 1,700 

3d Auditor 3,000 

Chief Clerk 1,700 

4th Auditor 3,000 

Chief Clerk 1,700 



•Salary. 



5th Auditor 3,000 

Chief Clerk 1,700 

Treasurer's Office. 

Treasurer 3,000 

Chief Clerk 1,700 

Register's Office. 

Register 3,000 

Chief Clerk 1,700 

Solicitor's Office. 
Solicitor 3,500 

Land Office. 

Commissioner General 3,000 

Recorder 2,000 

Solicitor 2,000 

Chief Clerk 1,800 



War Department 

Salary 



Secretary $6,000 

Chief Clerk 2,000 

Pension Office. 

Commissioner 3,000 

Chief Clerk 1,760 

Adjutant- General' 's Office. 
Colonel and Adjutant-General. 
Six Assistant Adjutants-Gen. 

Clerk 1,200 

Bounti/ Lands. 
Principal " 1,600 



Indian Affairs. Salary. 

Commissioner 3,000 

Chief Clerk 1,600 

Paymaster- General's Office. 

Paymaster-General 2,500 

Chief Clerk 1,700 

Purchasing Department. 
Com. General of Purch. ..3,000 

Chief Clerk 1,700 

Surgeon-General' s Office. 

Surgeon-General 2,500 

Clerk o 1,150 



336 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



Navy Department. 

Salary, i Salary 

Secretary $6,000 

Chief Clerk 2,000 



Navy Commissioners. 

Three, each 3,500 

Secretary 2,000 

Chief Clerk 1,720 



Survey of the Coast of the United States. 



Salary. 

Principal $6,000 

Two Assistants, each 4,000 

Two others, each 3,000 



Salary. 

Three others, each $2,000 

Three others, each 1,500 

Another 1,000 



Post Office Department. 

Assistant Postmaster- General, First Division $2,500 

Second Division 2,500 

Third Division 2,500 

Chief Clerk 2,000 

Auditor of the Post-Office 3,000 

Chief Clerk \ 2,000 



Salaries of the Officers of the Supreme Court. 

Salary. 

Reporter $1,000 

Clerk 1,000 

Marshal Fees, &c. 

The Supreme Court is held in the city of Washington, and has 
one session annually, commencing on the 2d Monday of January. 



Salary. 

Chief Justice $5,000 

Eight Assoc. Justices, each 4,500 
Attorney-General 4,000 



Congress. 

The Congress of the United States consists of a Senate and 
House of Representatives, and must assemble, at least, once every 
year, on the 1st Monday of December, unless it is otherwise pro- 
vided by law. 

The Senate is composed of two members from each state; and of 
course the regular number is now 52. They are chosen by the 
legislatures of the several states, for the term of six years, one third 
of them being elected biennially. 

The Vice-President of the United States is the President of the 
Senate, in which body he has only a casting vote, which is given 
in case of an equal division of the votes of the Senators. In his 
absence, a President pro tempore is chosen by the Senate. 

The House of Representatives is composed of members from the 
several states, elected by the people for the term of two years. 
The Representatives are apportioned among the different states ac- 



STATISTICAL TABLES. 337 

cording to population; and the 23d, 24th, 25th ? and 26th Con- 
gresses have been elected in accordance with an act of Congress of 
1832, one representative being returned for every 47,700 persons, 
computed according to the rule prescribed by the constitution ; 
(five slaves being computed equivalent to three free persons.) The 
present regular number is 242 representatives, and 3 delegates. 

Since the 4th of March, 1807, the compensation of each member 
of the Senate and House of Representatives has been $8 a day, 
during the period of his attendance in Congress, without deduction 
in case of sickness ; and $8 for every twenty miles' travel, in the 
usual road, in going to and returning from the seat of government. 
The compensation of the President of the Senate, pro tempore, and 
of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, is $16 a day. 



Votes for President and Vice-President. 

The following table, which we have prepared at the expense of some labor, will 
be found useful for reference. It exhibits the electoral votes given for the 
most prominent candidates for President and Vice-President of the United 
States, at the different elections since Gen. Washington's retirement. 

1796 — President, John Adams 71, Thomas Jefferson 68; Vice- 
President, T. Pinkney 58, Aaron Burr 50. 

1800 — President, Thomas Jefferson 73, John Adams 64; Vice- 
President, Aaron Burr 73, T. Pinkney 58. 

1804 — President, Thomas Jefferson 162, Charles C. Pinkney 14 ; 
Vice-President, G. Clinton 163, R. King 14. 

1803 — President, J. Madison 152, C. C. Pinkney 45; Vice-Pres- 
ident, G. Clinton 118, R. King 47. 

1812 — President. J.Madison 127, De Witt Clinton 89; Vice- 
President, E. Gerry 128, Ingersoll 58. 

1816— President, J. Monroe 188, R. King 34; Vice-President, 
D. D. Tompkins 113, opposition scattering. 

1820 — President, J. Monroe 218, no opposition, except one vote 
given from New Hampshire ; Vice-President, D. D. Tompkins 212, 
opposition divided. 

1824 — President, A. Jackson 99, J. Q. Adams 84, W. H. Craw- 
ford 41, H. Clay 37. 

1823 — President, A. Jackson 173, J. Q. Adams 83; Vice-Presi- 
dent, J. C. Calhoun 173, R. Rush 83. 

1832 — President, A. Jackson 219, H. Clay 49, John Floyd II, 
Wm. Wirt 7 ; Vice-President, Martin Van Buren 189, John Sar 
geant 49, William Wilkins 30, Lee 11, Levi Ellmaker 7. 

1836 — President, Martin Van Buren 170, W. H. Harrison 73, H- 
L. White 26, W. P. Mangum 11, Daniel Webster 14 ; Vice-Presi- 
dent, R. M. Johnson 147, Francis Granger 63, scattering 84. 

1840 — President, William Henry Harrison 234, Martin Van Bu- 
ren 60 ; Vice-President, John Tyler 234 , Richard M. Johnson 48, J. K. 
Polk 1, L. W. Tazewell 11 . [Harrison 19 states ; Van Buren 7 do.] 

The electors meet at the capitals of the respective states iti which 
**3 



338 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



they are chosen, on the second day of December, and give in their 
ballots for President and Vice-President. 



Population, Square Miles, fy-c. of the United States, 

2,257,374 so_. m. ; 17,532,851 inhab. 

Capital, Washington, 24,000 inhab.; lat. 38| N., long. 77 W. 



Division. Sq. m. 

Maine 35,000 

N. Hampshire .9,500 

Vermont 10,000 

Massachusetts .7,750 
Rhode Island ..1,250 

Connecticut — 4,760 



New York 46,000 

New Jersey ...7,800 
Pennsylvania .47,000 
Delaware 2,100 

Maryland 10,000 

Virginia 68,000 

N. Carolina... 50 ,000 
S. Carolina... 32,000 

Georgia 61,000 

Alabama 52,000 

Mississippi . ..48,000 
Louisiana ....49,000 

Tennessee 43,000 

Kentucky 40,000 

Ohio 45,000 

Michigan 63,000 

Indiana 36,000 

Illinois 59,000 

Missouri 63,000 

Arkansas 55,000 

Dist. of Col 100 

Florida 54,000 

Wisconsin ..125,000 

Iowa 100,000 

*Oregon 600,000 

*Missouri ...548,000 

Indian 190,000 

Dacotah. 



New England States. 

Dist. fr. 

Pop. Settled. Capital. Pop. Wash. 

510,596 1630 Augusta 5,350 600 

284,481 1632 Concord 5,000 450 

291,848 1724 Montpelier ... .2,500 500 

737,468 1620 Boston 83,379 436 

108,837 1636 Providence. . .24,000 410 

ninoo, icqq Hartford > 13,000 336 

SW,S61 lbS6 NewHaven } 14)500 320 

Middle States. 

2,432,835 1614 Albany 30,000 387 

373,272 1624 Trenton 4,000 167 

1,793,541 1682 Harrisburg. . ..6,000 100 

78,120 1627 Dover 1,000 100 

Southern States. 

467,567 1634 Annapolis 2,000 33 

1,231,444 1607 Richmond. .. .21,000 123 

756,939 1650 Raleigh 2,000 288 

594,439 1670 Columbia 4,300 490 

620,000 1733 Milledgeville . .2,000 635 

479,441 1783 Tuscaloosa 2,000 880 

376,099 1716 Jackson 1 ,000 1190 

301,000 1699 N.Orleans ..100,000 1260 
Western States. 

824,000 1765 Nashville 8,300 720 

777,359 1775 Frankfort 2,500 565 

1,515.785 1788 Columbus 6,250 418 

211^05 1670 Detroit 10,000 556 

683,314 1730 Indianapolis. . 2,000 603 

445,475 1749 Springfield. .. .1,000 850 

363,761 1663 Jefferson City. 1,000 950 

95,642 1685 Little Rock .. .1,000 1000 

Territories. 

40,000 Washington . .24,000 

40,000 1665 Tallahassee ...1,500 896 

30,692 Madison 1,000 700 

43,035 Burlington .... 1,000 650 

100,000 1811 t Astoria 30 2350 

108,800 
94,860 Council Bluff 1050 



* Inhabited by Indians principally. 

t Settlement commenced by John J. Astor, Esq., 1811. 



STATISTICAL TABLES. 



339 



Imports and Exports of the United States, 





In each year (ending 30th September) since 1820. 




Years. 


Imports. 


Exports. 


Years. 


Imports. 


Exports. 


1821 


$02,585,724 


$64,974,382 


1831 


$103,191,124 


$81,310,583 


1822 


83,241,541 


74,160,281 


1832 


101,029,266 


77,176,943 


1823 


77,579,267 


74,699,030 


1833 


108,118,311 


90,140,433 


1824 


80,549,007 


75,986,657 


1834 


126,521,332 


81,024,162 


18-2F> 


96,340,075 


99,535,388 


1835 


149,895,742 


121,693,557 


1826 


84,074,477 


77,595,322 


1836 


189,980,035 


127,663,040 


1827 


79,484,068 


82,324,827 


1837 


140,989,217 


117,419,376 


1828 


88,509,824 


72,264,686 


1838 


113,717,404 


108,486,616 


1829 


74,492,527 


72,358,681 


1839 


162,092,132 


121,023,416 


1630 


70,876,920 


73,849,508 


1840 


104,305,891 

tates. 


131,571,950 




Cities of the United S 





Portland, Me 15,218 

Boston, Mass 93,383 

Salem, Mass 1 5,082 

Lowell, Mass 20,796 

Providence, R. 1 23,171 

New London, Ct 5,519 

Norwich, Ct 4,200 

Hartford, Ct 9,468 

New Haven, Ct 12,960 

Middletown, Ct 3,511 

New York, N. Y 312,710 

Brooklyn, N. Y 36,233 

Hudson, N. Y 5,672 

Albany, N. Y 33,721 

Schenectady, N. Y 6,784 

Troy, N. Y 19,334 

Utica, N. Y 12,782 

Rochester, N. Y 20,191 

Buffalo, N.Y 18,213 

Newark, N. J 17,290 

Burlington, N. J 3,250 



Pop. 

Philadelphia, Pa 228,691 

Pittsburg, Pa 21,115 

Lancaster, Pa 8,417 

Chicago, 111 4,470 

Baltimore, Md 102,313 

Annapolis, Md 2,792 

Washington, D. C 23,364 

Alexandria, D. C 8,459 

Richmond, Va 20,153 

Charleston, S. C 29,261 

Savannah, Ga. 11 ,214 

St. Augustine, Fa 2,459 

Tallahassee, Fa 1,616 

Mobile, Ala 18,741 

New Orleans, La 102,193 

Natchez, Miss 4,800 

St. Louis, Mo 35,979 

Louisville, Ky 21,210 

Nashville, Tenn 6,929 

Cincinnati, O 46,338 

Detroit, Mich , 9,102 



Apportionment of Representation for Congress in each State. 



Maine 8 

New Hampshire 5 

Vermont 5 

Massachusetts 12 

Rhode Island 2 

Connecticut 6 

New York 40 

New Jersey 6 

Pennsylvania 28 

Delaware 1 

Maryland 8 

Virginia 21 

North Carolina 13 

South Carolina 9 

^aroria 9 



Alabama 5 

Mississippi 2 

Louisiana 3 

Arkansas 1 

Tennessee 13 

Kentucky 13 

Ohio 19 

Michigan 1 

Indiana 7 

Illinois 3 

Missouri 2 

Territories. 

Florida 1 

Wisconsin 1 

Iowa 1 



340 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



Date of the Formation of the State Constitutions, fyc. 

Maine. The constitution of this state was formed in 1819, 
but did not go into operation until 1820. 

New Hampshire. Constitution established in 1784 ; altered 
and amended in 1792. 

Vermont. The first constitution of Vermont was framed in 
1777. The present constitution was adopted in 1793. 

Massachusetts. The constitution of this state was formed 
in 1780, and altered and amended in 1821. 

Connecticut. The colonial charter granted by Charles il„ 
in 1662, was the basis of the government till the year 1818, when 
the present constitution was adopted. 

Rhode Island. This state, in 1832, was without a written 
constitution, and in this respect forms an exception to the other 
states of the Union. The government of this state is adminis- 
tered according to the charter granted to the colony by Charles 
IL, in 1663. 

New York. This state adopted a constitution in 1777, which 
was amended in 1801. A new constitution was framed in 1821. 

New Jersey, The constitution of New Jersey was formed 
in the year 1776, since which it has continued without alteration 
to the present time, except that the word colony has been changed 
to state ; but the legislature has, at various times, explained its 
provisions in relation to particular parts. 

Pennsylvania. The first constitution of Pennsylvania was 
adopted in 1776; the present in 1790, and has not since been 
altered. 

Maryland. The constitution of this state was adopted in 
1776. It has undergone various amendments. It grants the 
singular power of amending the constitution to the legislature, 
independently of the express vote of the people. 

Virginia. The first constitution of this state was formed in 
1776, and an amended constitution was adopted by a Convention, 
on the 14th of January, 1830, and went into operation in the 
year 183] . 

North Carolina. The constitution of North Carolina was 
framed in 1776, and has never been amended, and is silent as to 
any provisions for amendment. 

South Carolina. A constitution was adopted by this state 
in 1775. The present constitution was adopted in 1790. The 
latter has been twice amended, first in 1808, and again in 1816. 

Georgia. Georgia first formed a constitution in 1777; a 



STATISTICAL TABLES. 341 

second in 1785 ; and a third, which is now in operation, in 1798. 
This last has been amended in respect to one judicial provision. 

Kentucky. The constitution of Kentucky was first formed 
in 1790. A new one was framed in 1799. 

Tennessee. The constitution of Tennessee was adopted in 
1796 ; since which time it has not been amended. 

Ohio. The constitution of this state was adopted in 1802. 
It may be amended by a convention, but, as yet, has experienced 
no change. 

Indiana. The constitution of Indiana was adopted in 1816 ; 
may be amended by convention, but has not yet been altered. 

Louisiana. The constitution of this state was formed in 
1812. Provision is made for its amendment by a convention, 
chosen by the people. 

Mississippi. Constitution adopted in 1817, with provisions 
for its being- amended by convention. 

Illinois. From the North-west territory; admitted in 1818. 

Alabama. From part of Georgia ; admitted in 1818. 

Missouri. Formed from a part of the Louisiana purchase; 
admitted in 1820. 

Arkansas. From a portion of the Louisiana purchase; ad- 
mitted in 183d 

Michigan, which was constituted a territory in 1805 ; admitted 
in 1837. 



Qualifications of Voters, or Rigid of Suffrage, in each State. 

Maine. The right of suffrage is nearly universal, being grant- 
ed to all male citizens of twenty-one years of age and upwards, 
who have resided in the state for three months, next preceding 
the election. Paupers, persons under guardianship, and Indians 
not taxed, are excepted. 

New Hampshire. Right of suffrage granted to all males of 
twenty-one years of age and upwards, excepting paupers, and 
persons excused from paying taxes at their special request. 

Vermont. Right of suffrage extends to all males of twenty- 
one years of age and upwards, who have resided one year in the 
state, next preceding the election, and are of a quiet and peaceable 
behavior. 

Massachusetts. Right of suffrage extends to all males of 
twenty-one years of age and upwards, (paupers and persons under 
guardianship excepted,) who have resided within the common- 
wealth one year, and within the town or district in which they 
29* 



342 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

may claim a right to vote, six calendar months next preceding 1 
any election, and who have paid a state or county tax assessed 
upon them within two years next preceding such election, and 
also to every citizen who may be by law exempted from taxa- 
tion, and who may be, in all other respects, qualified as above 
mentioned. 

Connecticut. Must have gained a settlement in the state 
six months, done military duty, paid a state tax, and taken the 
prescribed oaths. 

Rhode Island. Three months' residence, and own a freehold 
of one hundred and thirty-one dollars. 

New York. Right of suffrage extends to all males of twenty- 
one years of age, inhabitants of the state for the last year, and 
residents of the county for the last six months, A colored man 
must hold a freehold of fifty dollars, have paid thereon taxes, and 
been five years a citizen. 

New Jersey. The language of the constitution on this point 
is, that all persons of full age shall have a right to vote, who are 
worth fifty pounds, proclamation money, clear estate in the same, 
and have resided in the county in which they claim to vote, for 
twelve months immediately preceding the election. By a special 
act of the legislature, every white male inhabitant, of lawful age, 
and who has paid a tax, is considered worth fifty pounds, and 
therefore entitled to vote. 

Pennsylvania. A citizen of the state two years, and paid a 
state and county tax. Persons qualified, between the ages of 
twenty-one and two, may vote, although they have paid no taxes. 

Delaware. The right of suffrage the same as in Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Maryland. One year in the state, and six months in the 
county, preceding the election at which he offers to vote. 

Virginia. Right of suffrage extends to every white male citi- 
zen of the commonwealth, of the age of twenty-one years, or who 
has a joint interest to the amount of twenty-five dollars, and 
having been a housekeeper one year, and been assessed with a 
part of the revenue of the commonwealth, within the preceding 
year, and actually paid the same. 

North Carolina. A citizen of the state one year, who has 
paid taxes, may vote for members of the house of commons, but 
must own fifty acres of land to vote for senators. 

South Carolina. Right of suffrage is granted to every free 
white male citizen, of the age of twenty-one years, resident two 
years, a freeholder of fifty acres of land, or has paid a tax the 
preceding year, of three shillings sterling, towards the support of 
government. 



STATISTICAL TABLES. 343 

Georgia. The right of suffrage extends to all citizens who 
have attained the age of twenty-one years, and six months' resi- 
dence in the county where he offers his vote, and must have paid 
all taxes imposed on him. 

Alabama. A citizen of the United States, one year in the 
state, and three months' residence in the county where he offers 
Ins vote. 

Louisiana. Residence in the county where he offers his vote 
one year, and having paid taxes within the last six months. 

Tennessee. A citizen of the United States, and six months' 
residence in the county where he offers his vote. 

Kentucky. The right of suffrage extends to every free male 
white citizen of the age of twenty-one years, who has resided in 
the state two years, or in the county where he votes, one year 
next preceding. 

Ohio. Right of suffrage extends to white male inhabitants, 
above twenty-one years, who have resided in the state one year 
immediately preceding the election, and who have paid a state or 
county tax. 

Indiana. Right of suffrage is granted to all male citizens of 
the age of twenty-one years and upwards, who have resided in 
the state a year immediately preceding an election. , 

Illinois. Residence in the state six months, but can only 
vote in the county where he actually resides. 

Missouri. A citizen of the United States, and one year's 
residence in the state next preceding the election, and three 
months in the county. 



Chronological hist of the Cabinet Officers of each Administration, 

First Administration ; — 1789 to Vt97% — 8 years. 

George Washington,. .Virginia, April 30, 1789. President. 

John Adams, Massachusetts,. .April 30, 1789. Vice-President. 

Appointed. 

Thomas Jefferson, Virginia, Sept. 26, 1789.) 

t Edmund Randolph, Virginia, Jan. 2, 1794. V Secretaries of State. 

Timothy Pi< kering, Pennsylvania,. . .Dec. 10, 1795.) 

Alexander Hamilton, New York, Sept. 11, 1789. \ Secretaries of the 

Oliver Wolcott, Connecticut, Feb. 3, 1795. \ Treasury. 

Henrv Knox, Massachusetts,. .Sept. 12, 1789. { 

Timothy Pickering, Pennsylvania, . .Jan. 2, 1795. > Secretaries of War. 

James McHenry, Maryland, Jan. 27, 1796.) 

Samuel Osgood, Massachusetts, . .Sept. 26, 1789. ) 

Timothv Pickering, Pennsylvania,... Nov. 7, 1791. £ Postmasters General. 

Joseph "Habersham, Georgia, Feb. 25, 1795. ) 

Edmund Randolph, Virginia Sept. 26, 1789.) 

William Bradford, Pennsylvania,... Jan. 27, 1794. > Attorneys General. 

Charles Lee, Virginia, Dec. 10, 1795. ) 



344 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



.Second Administration ; 

John Adams, Massachusetts 

Thomas Jefferson, Virginia, 



1797 to 1801 ; — 4 years. 



Timothy Pickering, ....Pennsylvania, . 

John Marshall, ..Virginia, , 

Oliver Wolcott, Connecticut, ... 

Samuel Dexter, Massachusetts, , 

James McHenry, Maryland, . 

Samuel Dexter, Massachusetts, , 

Roger Griswold, Connecticut, ... 

George Cabot, Massachusetts, . 

Benjamin Stoddert, Maryland, 

Joseph Habersham, Georgia, 

Charles Lee, Virginia, 



• March 4, 1797. 
.March 4, 1797. 

Appointed, 
.(cont'din office*) 
.May 13, 1800. 
. {00710 din office.) 

• Dec. 31, 1800. 
.(conV 'din office.) 
.May 13, 1800. 
.Feb. 3, 1801. 
.May 3, 1798. 
.May 21, 1798. 
.(cont'd in office.) 
.(confdin office.) 

Tnird Administration ; — 1801 to 1809 

Thomas Jefferson, Virginia, March 4, 1801. 

Aaron Burr, New York, March 4, 1801. 

George Clinton, New York, March 4, 1805. 

Appointed. 

James Madison, Virginia,. March 5, 1801. 

Samuel Dexter, Massachusetts, . . (cont'd in office.) 

Albert Gallatin, Pennsylvania,. . .Jan. 26, 1802. 

Henry Dearborn, Massachusetts, ..March 5, 1801. 

Benjamin Stoddert, Maryland, (cont'd in office.) 

Robert Smith, Maryland, Jan. 2C, 1802. 

Joseph Habersham, Georgia, (cont'd in office.) j 

Gideon Granger, Connecticut, Jan. 26, 1802. 

Levi Lincoln, Massachusetts, .. March 5, 1801. 

John Breckenfidge, Kentucky, Dec. 23, 1805. 

Ctesar A. Rodney, Delaware, Jan. 20, 1807.. 

Fonrtlx Administration ; — 1809 to 1817; — 8 years. 

James Madison, Virginia, March 4, 1809. President. 

George Clinton,.. N. Y., 1809, (died JprilZO, 1812.) 

Elbridge Gerry, Mass., 1813, (died JVav. 23, 1814.) 

Appointed. 

Robert Smith, Maryland, March 6, 1809.) 

James Monroe, Virginia, Nov. 25, 1811. i Secretaries of State. 

James Monroe, Virginia, Feb. 28,1815.) 

Albert Gallatin, Pennsylvania,... (cont'd in office.) 

George W. Campbell, ...Tennessee, Feb. 9, 1814. 

Alexander J. Dallas, Pennsylvania,. . .Oct. 6, 1814. ! 

William Eustis, Massachusetts, . . March 7, 1809. 

John Armstrong, New York, Jan. 13, 1813. 

James Monroe, Virginia, Sept. 27, 1814. 

William H. Crawford, ..Georgia, March 2, 1815. 

Paul Hamilton, South Carolina, .March 7, 1809. 

William Jones, Pennsylvania,.. .Jan. 12, 1813. c 

Benj. W.Crowninshield, Massachusetts, ..Dec. 19,1814.) wavy. 

Gideon Granger, Connecticut, (cont'din office.) ) v „♦„„„♦„ n i 

Return J. Meigs, Ohio, .March 17, "W j Postmasters General. 

Caesar A. Rodney, Delaware, (cont'din office.) ) 

William Pinkney, Maryland, Dec. 11, 1811. } Attorneys General. 

Richard Rush, Pennsylvania,.. .Feb. 10, 1814.) 



President. 
Vice-President. 

Secretaries of State. 

Secretaries of the 
Treasury. 

Secretaries of War. 

) Secretaries of the 
j Navy. 

Postmaster General. 

Attorney General. 

; — 8 years. 

President. 
[ Vice-Presidents. 

Secretary of State. 
) Secretaries of the 
) Treasury. 

Secretary of War. 
) Secretaries of the 
j Navy. 

i Postmasters General. 
Attorneys General. 



Vice-Presidents. 



Secretaries of the 
Treasury. 



Secretaries of War. 



) Secretaries of the 



Fifth Administration ; — 1817 to 1835 5 — 8 years. 

James Monroe, Virginia, March 4, 1817. President. 

Daniel D. Tompkins, ... New York, March 4, 1817. Vice-President. 

Appointed. 

John Q. Adams, Massachusetts, ..March 5, 1817. Secretary of State 

William H. Crawford, . .Georgia, March 5, 1817. Sec. of the Treasury 



STATISTICAL TABLES. 



345 



of War. 



Isaac Shelby, Kentucky, March 5, 1817. i c„„ rAtQr ; c 

John C. Calhoun, South Carolina, .Dec. 16, 1817. ) k - ecreiaric 

Benj. W. Crowninshield, Massachusetts, ..(cont'd in office.) ) a pprptqrip , nf th „ 

Smith Thompson New York, Nov. 30, 1818. I C ^1 * 

9, 1823. ) mvy- 



Samuel L. Southard,. . . 



,Nevv York, Nov. 

.New Jersey, . . . .Dec. 



Sixth Administration ; — 1835 to 1839; — 4: years. 



John Quincv Adams,... Massachusetts, 
John C. Calhoun, South Carolina, 

Henry Clay, Kentucky, .... 

Richard Rush, Pennsylvania,. 

James Barbour, Virginia, 

Peter B. Porter, New York, 

Samuel L. Southard,. ...New Jersey, .. 



.March 4, 1825. 
• March 4, 1825. 

Appointed. 
.March 8, 1825. 
.March 7, 1825. 
.March 7, 1825. 
.May 26, 1828. 
.(cont'd in office.) 



President. 
Vice-President. 

Secretary of State. 
Sec. of the Treasury. 

Secretaries of War. 

Sec. of the Navy. 



Seventh Administration ; — 1839 to 1837 ; — 8 years. 

Andrew Jackson, Tennessee, March 4, 1829. President. 

John C. Calhoun, South Carolina, .March 4, 1829. 



Martin Van Buren, New York, 



.March 4, 1833. 



Vice-Presidents 



Martin Van Buren, New York , 

Edward Livingston, ....Louisiana, , 

Louis McLane, Delaware, 

John Forsyth, Georgia, ) 

Samuel D.Ingham, Pennsylvania, , 

Louis McLane, Delaware, 

William J. Duane, Pennsylvania, , 

Roger B. Taney, Maryland, , 

Levi Woodbury, New Hampshire, , 

John H. Eaton, Tennessee, 

Lewis Cass, Michigan, 

Benj. F. Butler, (acting,) New York, 

John Branch, North Carolina, , 

Levi Woodbury, New Hampshire, 

Mahlon Dickerson, New Jersey, 

John McLean, Ohio, \ Postmasters General, 

William T. Barry, Kentucky, > [now first considered 

Amos Kendall, Kentucky, ) as Cabinet officers.] 

Eighth Administration;— 1837 to 1841; — 4 years. 



Secretaries of State 



Secretaries of the 
Treasury. 



> Secretaries of War. 

) Secretaries of the 
C Navy. 



Martin Van Buren,. . .New York, March 4, 1837. 

Richard M. Johnson, Kentucky, March 4, 1837. 

Appointed. 

John Forsyth, Georgia, (cont'd in office.) 

Levi Woodbury, New Hampshire, (cont'din office.) 

Joel R. Poinsett, South Carolina, .March 5, 1837. 

Mahlon Dickerson, New Jersey, (cont'din office.) 

Amos Kendall, Kentucky, (cont'd in office.) 

John M. Niles, Connecticut, 



President. 
Vice-President. 

Secretary of State. 
Sec. of the Treasury. 
Secretary of War. 
Sec. of the Navy. 

Postmasters General 



Ninth Administration ; — 184:1. 

William H. Harrison,. Ohio, March 4, 1841. President. 

John Tyler, Virginia, March 4, 1841. Vice-President 

Daniel Webster, Massachusetts, Secretary of State. 

Thomas Ewing, Ohio, Sec. of the Treasury, 

John Bell, Tennessee, Secretary of War. * 

George E. Badger, North Carolina, Sec. of the Navy, 

Francis Granger, New York, Postmaster General. 

John J. Crittenden, Kentucky, Attorney General. 



346 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



4 Record of Events connected ivith the History of the 
United States. 

1492. Columbus, on the 12th of October, landed at San Salvador, 
one of the Bahama Islands. He was the first European who set 
foot in the New World. 

1493. He discovered St. Domingo, Jamaica, and other islands 
in the vicinity. 

1497. North America was discovered by John Cabot and his son, 
who sailed from England on an exploring expedition. 

1498. Columbus discovered South America. 
1607. Jamestown, in Virginia, was founded. 

1609. New York was discovered by Henry Hudson. 

1613. The Dutch erected a fort near Albany, and established a 
few trading houses at New York, then New Amsterdam, Manhattan 
Island. 

1620. The Mayflower arrived at Plymouth; her crew com- 
menced the first settlement in Massachusetts. 

This year the Dutch first introduced slaves into Virginia. 

1634. A settlement was made in Maryland by Lord Baltimore. 

1635. The first settlement was made in Connecticut. 

1664. New York, then New Amsterdam, was surrendered by the 
Dutch into the hands of the English. 

1680. Carolina began to be permanently settled. 

1681. A settlement was made in Pennsylvania by William 
Penn. 

1720. Difficulties arose between the representatives of the peo- 
ple and the governor of New England. 

1721. Carolina was divided into North and South Carolina. 
1733. The first settlement was made in Georgia. At this period 

the whole coast between New Brunswick and Florida became settled 
with colonies, under the government of Great Britain. 

1748. Delegates from seven of the colonies met at Albany to 
hold a conference with the Indians. 

1755. Braddock was defeated by the Indians. George Wash- 
ington was his aid, and took command after Braddock and others 
in command were slain. 

1764. The British Parliament enacted a law imposing a duty on 
certain articles of merchandise. The colonies denied the right, 
asserting that they had domestic governments, which they alone 
supported. 

1765. The stamp act was passed by Great Britain. This led to 
a quarrel between the colonies and the mother country. 

1770. An affray took place between the British and Americans, 
m King Street, Boston, (now State Street,) in which four persons 
were killed, and others wounded. 

1773. The tea, sent from England, was thrown from the ships 
into the sea, in Boston harbor. 

Soon after, large bodies of troops were sent to subject the people. 



STATISTICAL TABLES. 347 

1774. The General Court of Massachusetts recommended a Con- 
tinental Congress. It first assembled in 1775, in October. 

1775. General Gage was commander-in-chief of the British 
forces in America. 

This year the militia was fired at by the British at Lexington, 
Massachusetts, and a battle followed. A few months after, the 
battle of Bunker Hill took place. 

1775. Bills of credit, or paper money, were first authorized by 
Congress. 

The population of the colonies at this time, about three mil- 
lions. 

1776. A written constitution was adopted by New Hamp- 
shire. It acknowledged no source of power but the people. This 
was the first adopted in the colonies. 

This same year, Congress recommended the colonies generally to 
adopt constitutions. 

1776. July 4, the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed 
by order of Congress. 

1776. December. A law was passed by the English Parlia- 
ment, amounting to a declaration of war against the colonies. 

1777. September. The battle of Stillwater was fought. 

1777. Congress adopted articles of confederation, which were 
subsequently ratified by the several states. 

1778. The independence of the United States was acknowl- 
edged by France. 

1779. Up to this period $150,000,000 of paper money had been 
issued by order of Congress. 

Thirty dollars of paper were given for one of silver : people 
finally refused to take it. 

1781. Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington at York- 
town. The British naval force at this place was at the same time 
surrendered to count de Grasse. 

1782. Pacific overtures were made by Great Britain to the 
colonies. John Adams, of Massachusetts, had been previously 
appointed, on the part of the colonies, to treat with Great Britain ; 
three others were now added to act with him. Preliminary articles 
were, in November of this year, agreed upon at Paris. 

1783. December. A definite treaty of peace between Great 
Britain and the United States was signed. 

1783. The patriot army was dissolved. In November of this 
year, the British troops left New York. 

" Independence and peace did not immediately produce all the 
advantages which had been anticipated by an ardent and sanguine 
people. The evils of war were protracted beyond its duration. 
Public and private debts bore heavily upon the people, restraining 
their enterprise, and demanding all their resources." 

1786. In Massachusetts, the commercial distress, and the dif- 
ficulty of effecting exchanges of property, was so great, that 
an assembly of two thousand persons chose Daniel Shays for 
their leader, and demanded that the collection of debts should 
be suspended, and that the legislature should authorize an emis- 



348 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

sion of paper money for general circulation. They were dispersed 
by the militia. 

1787. The constitution of the United States was agreed upon in 
Convention, and was afterwards submitted to the different states for 
ratification. 

1789. March 4th was the day designed for the new government 
to commence operations. It was, however, prevented until the 30th 
of April, when the first inauguration of president, under the con- 
stitution, took place. 

The first object of Congress was to establish a revenue sufficient 
for the support of government and the discharge of the debt con- 
tracted by the war. 

The departments of state, of the treasury, and of war, were 
created. A national judiciary was established and organized. 

1790. The government debt was funded, amounting to a little 
over $75,000,000. 

1791. A duty was laid on foreign imports, and a national bank 
recommended and passed. 

1791. The exports amounted to $19,000,000, and the imports to 
$20,000,000; the revenue to $4,771,000. 

1799. Washington died in December. 

1800. War was declared against France, and a satisfactory treaty 
concluded the same year. 

1800. The exports were $94,000,000, and the revenue $12,- 
945,000. 

1803. The United States national debt was $85,000,000. 

1807. America had the carrying trade, Great Britain and France 
being at war. 

This year the British ship Leopard, on the coast of the United 
States, fired into the United States frigate Chesapeake. 

1808. An embargo was laid. 

1809. The embargo was repealed, and a non-intercourse with 
both France and England established in its place. 

1811. The British sloop of war Little Belt and the United 
States ship President had an encounter. 

From 1803 to 1811, the British had captured nine hundred Amer- 
ican vessels. 

1811. The United States Bank charter expired. 

1812. June 18. War was declared by the United States against 
Great Britain. At this time the national debt was reduced to 
$45,000,000. 

1813. Treasury notes were authorized by Congress. 

1813. The naval battle on Lake Erie was fought, and the British 
navy on that lake captured. 

1814. A loan to the amount of $20,000,000 was authorized by 
Congress, and an issue of treasury notes to the amount of $5,- 
000,000 more. 

1814. A treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United 
States was negotiated at Ghent in December; was ratified by the 
United States Senate in 1815. Thus terminated the second war 
with Great Britain. 



STATISTICAL TABLES. 349 

18 — . By the war, the United States debt was in- 
creased --------- $80,000,000 

To which add the debt, owing in 1812, of - - 45,000,000 



1815. The amount of debt was - - - $125,000,000 

1816. The tariff was revised, a national bank established, and 
a course of policy entered upon by the government, having in view 
the support of the government, the payment of the interest of the 
national debt, and its subsequent liquidation. 

1823. The national debt was $91,000,000. 

1824. The tariff was again revised. 
1828. The tariff was again revised. 

1832. The tariff was again revised, and important alterations 
made .in it. 

Prior to this date, the duties on imports were payable at 6, 8, 9, 
10, 12, and 18 months. 

By this law, the duty on woollens, and all sums under two hun- 
dred dollars, were made cash. On sums over two hundred dollars, 
three and six months' credit only was allowed. This law went into 
operation in 1833, from and after the 3d of March. 

1833. The removal of the deposits took place. Kendall's 
letter to the state banks, dated in August. 

1834. In May, the money for the payment of the national debt 
was placed in the United States Bank. 

1834. The law changing the standard value of gold went into 
operation July 1. 

1834. The withdrawal of small bills from circulation was di- 
rected in many of the states. In December, 1834, the amount in 
New York was $3,730,902. This was, by a law of the legislature, 
ordered withdrawn in nine months. 

1835. In December was the great fire in New York, and loss 
of insurance stock. '34, '35, and '36, excessive importations of 
specie took place. 

1836. The final withdrawal of the United States Bank branches 
from the states took place, and the distribution of the public 
revenue. 

1836. The specie circular was issued. 

1837. There was a deficiency of bread stuffs, and the suspension 
of specie payments by the banks took place. 

J 838. The extension of duty on imports, to 6, 9, and 12 months, 
was directed by government. 

1839. The law of 1833, making the duties cash, and 3 and 6 
months, was again in operation. 

Prior to 1833, the credit given by government on importations of 
salt was nine months. 

Importations of wine, 12 months. 

On other imports ; — from the East Indies, 8, 10, and 18 months. 

From round Cape Horn, 8, 10, and 18 months. 

From the West Indies, 6 and 9 months. 

From Europe, 8, 10, and 12 months. 
30 



350 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



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352 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 

OF THE 

SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



SAMUEL ADAMS. 

The memories of few men will perhaps be cherished, 
by their posterity, with a more jealous and grateful admi- 
ration than those of the patriotic individuals who first 
signed the political independence of our country. They 
hazarded by the deed not only their lands and possessions, 
but their personal freedom and their lives ; and when it 
is considered that most of them were in the vigor of ex- 
istence, gifted with considerable fortunes, and with all the 
offices and emoluments at the disposal of royalty within 
their reach, the sacrifice which they risked appears mag- 
nified, and their disinterested patriotism more worthy of 
remembrance. Although many of them can rest their 
sole claim to lasting distinction upon the one great act 
with which they were adventitiously connected, still their 
lives present a valuable transcript of the times in which 
they lived, and afford examples of inflexible honesty, he- 
roic decision, and noble energy of mind, quite as inter- 
esting as any records of the eccentricities of genius, or the 
grasping efforts of ambition. 

Not one of the least ardent and uncompromising as- 
sertors of the rights and liberties of his country, was the 
subject of our present sketch — Samuel Adams. This 
gentleman, descended from a respectable family, which 
emigrated to America with the first settlers of the land, 
was born at Quincy, in Massachusetts, September 22d, 
1722. In 1736, he became a member of Harvard College, 
and took his degree of master in 1743. On this latter 
occasion, he proposed the following question, in which he 
maintained the affirmative : " Whether it be lawful to 
resist the supreme magistrate, if the commonwealth cannot 
be otherwise preserved." 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES). 353 

On quitting the university, he commenced the study of 
the law; but soon afterwards, at the request of his mother, 
became a clerk in the counting-house of Thomas Cushing, 
at that time an eminent merchant. The genius of Adams 
was not suited to commercial pursuits. His devotion to 
politics, and his interest in the welfare of his country, di- 
verted his attention from his own business concerns ; and 
he retired from his mercantile connections poorer by far 
than when he entered into them. In 1763, when a com- 
mittee was appointed by the people of Boston to remon- 
strate against the taxation of the colonies by the British 
ministry, the instructions of that committee were drawn 
by Mr. Adams, and gave a powerful proof of his ability 
and zeal. He soon became an influential leader in the 
popular assemblies, and was bold in denouncing the op- 
pressive acts of the mother country. 

In 1765, he was chosen a representative to the General 
Court of the state, from the town of Boston. Here he 
soon made himself conspicuous, and became clerk of the 
legislative body. About this time, he was the author of 
several spirited essays, and plans of resistance to the ex- 
actions of the British ministry. He suggested the first 
Congress at New York, which was a step to the estab- 
lishment of a Continental Congress, ten years after. 

In 1770, two regiments of troops were quartered in the 
town of Boston, apparently to superintend the conduct of 
the inhabitants. This measure roused the public indig- 
nation to the utmost, and soon gave occasion to a quarrel 
between a party of soldiers and citizens, in which eleven 
of the latter were killed or wounded by a guard under 
the command of Captain Preston. This rencontre, which 
is well known under the name of the " Boston Massacre," 
and will long remain memorable as the first instance of 
bloodshed between the British and Americans, did not 
tend to allay the excitement caused by the presence of the 
troops. On the following morning, a meeting of the 
citizens was called, and Samuel Adams first rose to ad- 
dress the assembly. His style of eloquence was bold and 
impressive, and few could exercise a more absolute con- 
trol over the passions of a multitude. A committee, of 
which he was one, was chosen to wait upon Governor 
30* 



354 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

Hutchinson, with a request that the troops might be in- 
stantly removed. The governor replied that the troops 
were not under his command ; but Adams, with his usual 
intrepidity, would brook no prevarication or excuse, and 
declared that if he permitted them to remain, it would be 
at his peril. The governor, alarmed at the personal dan- 
ger which threatened him, finally consented to the demand, 
and further hostilities were, for a time, suspended. 

The injudicious management of his private affairs ren- 
dered Mr. Adams poor. When this was known in Eng- 
land, it was proposed to bribe him, by the gift of some 
lucrative office. A suggestion of the kind being made 
to Governor Hutchinson, he replied, that " such was the 
obstinacy and inflexible disposition of the man, that he 
could never be conciliated by any office or gift whatever." 
A higher compliment could not have been paid him. The 
offer, however, was made, it is said, and rejected. About 
the year 1773, Governor Gage renewed the experiment. 
Colonel Felton waited upon Mr. Adams, with the assur- 
ance of Governor Gage, that any benefit he might ask 
would be conferred on him, on condition that he would 
forsake the popular faction ; while, at the same time, sig- 
nificant threats were thrown out of the consequences 
which might ensue, if he persisted in his opposition to the 
measures of the ministry. The reply of the undaunted 
patriot was characteristic: "Go tell Governor Gage," said 
he, " that my peace has long since been made with the 
King of kings ; and that it is the advice of Samuel Adams 
to him, no longer to insult the feelings of. an already ex- 
asperated people." 

Under the irritation produced by this answer, Governor 
Gage issued a proclamation, which comprehended the fol- 
lowing language : " I do hereby, in his majesty's name, 
offer and promise his most gracious pardon to all persons 
who shall forthwith lay down their arms, and return to 
the duties of peaceable subjects ; excepting only from the 
benefits of such pardon Samuel Adams and John Han- 
cock, whose offences are of too flagitious a nature to 
admit of any other consideration but that of condign 
punishment." 

Mr. Adams was a member of the first Continental Con- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 355 

gress, which assembled in Philadelphia, in 1774 ; and he 
remained an active member of that body until the year 
1781. During this period, he was one of the warmest 
advocates for the declaration of American independence. 
After that declaration had been irrecoverably adopted, 
and when the subsequent gloom which overspread the land 
had depressed the spirits of the most ardent advocates of 
liberty, the firmness and enthusiasm of Mr. Adams were 
unchanged. His example contributed in a high degree to 
inspire his countrymen with a confidence of their final 
success. The following encomium upon him is from a 
work upon the American rebellion, by Mr. Galloway, pub- 
lished in England, in 1780: " He eats little, drinks little, 
sleeps little, thinks much, and is most indefatigable in the 
pursuit of his object. It was this man, who, by his su- 
perior application, managed at once the factions in Con- 
gress at Philadelphia, and the factions of New England." 

In 1781, Mr. Adams retired from Congress; but, having 
already been a member of the Convention which formed 
the constitution of his native state, he was placed in the 
Senate, and for several years presided over that body. 
In 1789, he was elected lieutenant-governor, in which 
office he continued till 1794; when, upon the death of 
Hancock, he was chosen governor, and w r as annually re- 
elected till 1797, when he retired from public life. He 
died October 2d, 1803, at the advanced age of eighty-two. 

In his person, Mr. Adams was only of the middle size ; 
but his countenance indicated great decision of purpose 
and an energetic mind. He was a sincere and practical 
Christian; and the last production of his pen was in favor 
of Christian truth. His writings were voluminous; but 
as they chiefly related to the temporary politics of the day, 
few of them remain. He always manifested a singular 
indifference to pecuniary considerations. He was poor 
while he lived ; and it has been said that, had not the 
death of an only son relieved the poverty of his latter days, 
Samuel Adams would have had to claim a burial from 
private charity, or at the public expense, 



356 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



JOSIAH BARTLETT. 

Josiah Bartlett, governor of New Hampshire, and 
the first from that state who signed the Declaration of 
Independence, was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts, in 
1729. Without the advantages of a collegiate education, 
but possessing a competent knowledge of the Greek and 
Latin languages, he commenced the study of medicine at 
the age of sixteen. After devoting himself for five years 
to the acquisition of the necessary knowledge and expe- 
rience, he commenced the practice of his profession at 
Kingston, in the year 1750. Here he soon obtained very 
considerable reputation, and introduced many efficacious 
changes in the treatment of several diseases. 

In the year 1765, Doctor Bartlett was elected to the 
legislature of the province of New Hampshire, from the 
town of Kingston. In his legislative capacity, he was a 
determined opposer of the mercenary views of the royal 
governor, John Wentworth, who, desiring to conciliate 
him to his interest, appointed him justice of the peace. 
This, though a trivial distinction, was a token of the 
governor's respect for his talents and influence. Doctor 
Bartlett accepted the appointment, but continued firm in 
his opposition. His attachment to the patriotic side, and 
the spirit with which he resisted the royal exactions, soon 
afterwards produced his dismissal from the commission of 
justice of the peace, as also from a command which he 
held in the militia. 

In 1774, a Convention was convoked at Exeter, for the 
purpose of choosing deputies to the Continental Congress, 
which was to meet at Philadelphia. In this Convention, 
Doctor Bartlett, and John Pickering, a lawyer of Ports- 
mouth, were appointed delegates to Congress ; but the 
former, having a little previously lost his house by fire, 
was obliged to decline the honor. The latter gentleman 
wishing likewise to be excused, others were chosen in 
their stead. From this time the political difficulties in 
New Hampshire increased. At length Governor Went- 
worth found it expedient to retire on board a man-of-war 
then lying in the harbor of Portsmouth ; and soon after 
issued his proclamation, adjourning the state Assembly 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 357 

till the following April. This act, however, was disre- 
garded, and soon terminated the royal government in 
New Hampshire, after it had existed there for a period of 
ninety years. 

In September, 1775, Doctor Bartlett, who had been 
elected to the Continental Congress, took his seat in that 
body. Here having largely participated in an unwearied 
devotion to business, his health was considerably impaired ; 
but in a second election, the ensuing year, he was again 
chosen a delegate to the same body. He was present on 
the memorable occasion of taking the vote on the question 
of a declaration of independence. On putting the ques- 
tion, it was agreed to begin with the northernmost colony. 
Doctor Bartlett, therefore, had the honor of being the first 
to vote for, and the first, after the president, to sign the 
Declaration of Independence. 

In August, 1778, a new election taking place, Doctor 
Bartlett was again chosen a delegate to Congress. He 
continued at Philadelphia, however, but a small part of 
the session ; and, his domestic concerns requiring his at- 
tention, he resided the remaining part of his life in New 
Hampshire. In 1779, he was appointed chief justice 
of the Court of Common Pleas. In 1782, he became an 
associate justice of the Supreme Court, and in 1788, was 
advanced to the head of the bench. Doctor Bartlett was 
a member of the Convention which adopted the present 
constitution of the state, and by his zeal greatly aided 
its ratification. In 1789, he was elected a senator to 
Congress ; but his age and infirmities induced him to de- 
cline the honor. In 1793, he was elected first governor 
of the state, which office he filled with his usual fidelity 
and good sense, until the infirm state of his health obliged 
him to resign, and retire wholly from public life. He did 
not remain long, however, to enjoy the repose which he 
coveted; but died on the 19th of May, 1795, in the sixty- 
sixth year of his age. 

The patriotism of this eminent man was of a pure and 
highly disinterested nature. He rose to distinction un- 
aided by family influence or party connections, and main- 
tained through life a reputation for strict integrity, great 
penetration of mind, and considerable abilities. 



358 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



CARTER BRAXTON. 

Carter Braxton was born in Newington, Virginia, on 
the 10th of September, 1736. His father was a wealthy 
planter, and his mother the daughter of Robert Carter, 
who was for some time a member, and the president of 
the king's Council. 

Carter Braxton was liberally educated at the College of 
William and Mary ; and on his father's death, he became 
possessed of a considerable fortune, consisting principally 
of land and slaves. At the early age of nineteen, he re- 
ceived a large accession to his estate by marriage. But, 
having the misfortune to lose his wife, he soon after em- 
barked for England, with a view of improving himself 
by travel. He returned to America in 1760, and the 
following year was married to a daughter of Richard Cor- 
bin, of Lannerville, by whom he had sixteen children. 
Mr. Braxton did not study any profession, but became a 
gentleman planter, and lived in a style of hospitality and 
splendor which was not incommensurate with his means. 
Upon his return from Europe, he was called to a seat in 
the House of Burgesses, where he was characterized for 
his patriotic zeal and firmness, in all the duties which he 
was called upon to discharge. 

In 1775, Mr. Braxton was elected a delegate to Con- 
gress. In that body he soon after took his seat, and 
was present on the occasion of signing the Declaration of 
Independence. In June, 1776, the Convention of Vir- 
ginia reduced the number of their delegates in Congress, 
and, in consequence, he was omitted. Mr. Braxton was 
a member of the first General Assembly, under the repub- 
lican constitution, which met at Williamsburg. Here he 
had the honor of receiving, in connection with Thomas 
Jefferson, an expression of the public thanks for the " dil- 
igence, ability, and integrity, with which they executed 
the important trust reposed in them, as delegates in the 
General Congress." 

In 1786, he became a member of the Council of State, 
which office he held until the 30th of March, 1791. 
After an interval of a few years, during which he occu- 
pied a seat in the House of Delegates, he was reelected 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 359 

into the Executive Council. He died on the 10th of Oc- 
tober, 1797, by means of an attack of paralysis. 

Mr. Braxton was a gentleman of a polished mind, of 
considerable conversational powers, and respectable tal- 
ents. His latter days were unfortunately clouded by pe- 
cuniary embarrassments, caused by the miscarriage of 
his commercial speculations, and by several vexatious 
lawsuits. Of his numerous family, but one daughter, it 
is believed, survives. 

CHARLES CARROLL. 

Charles Carroll was a descendant of Daniel Carroll, 
an Irish gentleman, who emigrated from England to Amer- 
ica about the year 16S9. He settled in the province of 
Maryland, where, a few years after, he received the ap- 
pointment of judge, and register of the land office, and 
became agent for Lord Baltimore. 

Charles Carroll, the father of the subject of the present 
sketch, was born in 1702. His son, Charles Carroll, sur- 
named of Carrollton, was born September 8, 1737, O. S., 
at Annapolis, in the province of Maryland. 

At the age of eight years, he was sent to France for the 
purpose of obtaining an education. He was placed at a 
college of English Jesuits, at St. Omer's, where he re- 
mained for six years. Afterwards, he staid some time at 
Rheims, whence he was removed to the College of Louis 
le Grand. On leaving college, he entered upon the study 
of the civil law, at Bourges ; from which place he returned 
to Paris, where he remained till 1757, in which year he 
removed to London, and commenced the study of law. 
He returned to America in 1764, an accomplished scholar, 
and an accomplished man. Although he had lived abroad, 
and might naturally be supposed to have imbibed a predi- 
lection for the monarchical institutions of Europe, he 
entered with great spirit into the controversy between 
the colonies and Great Britain, which, about the time of 
his arrival, was beginning to assume a most serious as- 
pect. 

A few years following the repeal of the stamp act, the 
violent excitement occasioned by that measure in a de- 



360 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

gree subsided throughout all the colonies. In this calmer 
state of things the people of Maryland participated. But 
about the year 1771, great commotion was excited in that 
province, in consequence of the arbitrary conduct of Gov- 
ernor Eden and his council, touching the fees of the civil 
officers of the colonial government. 

The controversy which grew out of this became ex- 
ceedingly spirited. It involved the great principles of 
the revolution. Several writers of distinguished character 
enlisted themselves on different sides of the question. 
Among these writers, no one was more conspicuous than 
Mr. Carroll. The natural consequence of his firmness in 
defence of the rights of the people was, that great confi- 
dence was reposed in him on their part, and he was 
looked up to as one who was eminently qualified to lead 
in the great struggle which was approaching between the 
colonies and the parent country. 

An anecdote is related of Mr. Carroll, which will illus- 
trate his influence with the people of Maryland. By a 
resolution of the delegates of Maryland, on the 22d day 
of June, 1774, the importation of tea was prohibited. 
Some time after, however, a vessel arrived at Annapolis ? 
having a quantity of this article on board. This becom- 
ing known, the people assembled in great multitudes, to 
take effectual measures to prevent its being landed. At 
length, the excitement became so high, that the personal 
safety of the captain of the vessel became endangered, 
In this state of things, the friends of the captain made ap- 
plication to Mr. Carroll, to interpose his influence with 
the people in his behalf. The public indignation was too 
great to be easily allayed. This Mr. Carroll perceived, 
and advised the captain and his friends, as the only prob- 
able means of safety to himself, to set fire to the vessel, 
and burn it to the water's edge. This alternative was 
indeed severe ; but, as it was obviously a measure of ne- 
cessity, the vessel was drawn out, her sails were set, her 
colors unfurled, in which attitude the fire was applied to 
her, and, in the presence of an immense concourse of 
people, she was consumed. This atonement was deemed 
satisfactory, and the captain was no further molested. 

In the early part of 1776, Mr. Carroll, whose distin- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 361 

guished exertions in Maryland had become extensively 
known, was appointed by Congress, in connection with 
Dr. Franklin and Samuel Chase, on a commission to pro- 
ceed to Canada, to persuade the people of that province 
to relinquish their allegiance to the crown of England, 
and unite with the Americans in their struggle for inde- 
pendence. 

In the discharge of their duties, the commissioners met 
with unexpected difficulties. The defeat and death of 
Montgomery, together with the compulsion which the 
American troops found it necessary to exercise, in obtain- 
ing the means of support in that province, conspired to 
diminish the ardor of the Canadians in favor of a union 
with the colonies, and even, at length, to render them hos- 
tile to the measure. To conciliate their affections, and to 
bring to a favorable result the object of their mission, the 
commissioners employed their utmost ingenuity and influ- 
ence. They issued their proclamations, in which they 
assured the people of the disposition of Congress to rem- 
edy the temporary evils which the inhabitants suffered in 
consequence of the presence of the American troops, so 
soon as it should be in their power to provide specie, and 
clothing, and provisions. A strong tide, however, was 
now setting against the American colonies, the strength of 
which was much increased by the Roman Catholic priests, 
who, as a body, had always been opposed to any connection 
with the United Colonies. Despairing of accomplishing 
the wishes of Congress, the commissioners at length aban- 
doned the object, and returned to Philadelphia. 

The great subject of independence was, at this time, 
undergoing a discussion in the hall of Congress. The 
Maryland delegation, in that body, had been instructed by 
their Convention to refuse their assent to a declaration of 
independence. On returning to Maryland, Mr. Carroll 
resumed his seat in the Convention, and, with the advo- 
cates of a declaration of independence, urged the with- 
drawal of the above instructions, and the granting of pow- 
er to their delegates to unite in such a declaration. The 
friends of the measure had at length the happiness, on the 
28th of June, of procuring a new set of instructions, which 
31 



362 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

secured the vote of the important province of Maryland in 
favor of the independence of America. 

On the same day on which the great question was deci- 
ded in Congress in favor of a declaration of independence, 
Mr. Carroll was elected a delegate to that body from 
Maryland, and accordingly took his seat on the eighteenth 
of the same month. 

Although not a member of Congress at the time the 
question of a declaration of independence was settled, Mr, 
Carroll had the honor of greatly contributing to a measure 
so auspicious to the interests of his country, by assisting in 
procuring the withdrawal of the prohibiting instructions, 
and the adoption of a new set, by which the Maryland 
delegates found themselves authorized to vote for independ- 
ence. He had the honor, also, of affixing his signature 
to the Declaration on the second of August, at which time 
the members generally signed an engrossed copy, which 
had been prepared for that purpose. 

A signature to the Declaration was an important step 
for every individual member of Congress. It exposed the 
signers of it to the confiscation of their estates, and the 
loss of life, should the British arms prove victorious. Few 
men had more at stake in respect to property than Mr. 
Carroll, he being considered the richest individual in the 
colonies. But wealth was of secondary value in his esti- 
mation, in comparison with the rights and liberties of his 
country. When asked whether he would annex his name, 
he replied, " Most willingly," and, seizing a pen, instantly 
subscribed " to this record of glory." " There go a few 
millions," said some one who watched the pen as it traced 
the name of " Charles Carroll, of Carrollton," on the 
parchment. Millions would indeed have gone, for his for- 
tune was princely, had not success crowned the American 
arms, in the long-fought contest. 

Mr. Carroll was continued a member of Congress until 
1778, at which time he resigned his seat in that body, and 
devoted himself more particularly to the interest of his na- 
tive state. He had served in her Convention in 1776, in 
the latter part of which year he had assisted in drafting 
her constitution. Soon after, the new constitution went 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 363 

into operation, and Mr. Carroll was chosen a member of 
the Senate of Maryland. In 1781, he was reelected to 
the same station, and in 1788, on the adoption of the fed- 
eral constitution, was chosen to the Senate of the United 
States. 

In 1791, Mr. Carroll relinquished his seat in the na- 
tional Senate, and was again called to the Senate of his 
native state. This office he continued to hold until 1804, 
at which time, the democratic party was successful in 
electing their candidate, to the exclusion of this long-tried 
and faithful patriot. At this time, Mr. Carroll took leave 
of public life, and sought in retirement the quiet enjoyment 
of his family circle. 

Since the date of his retirement from public office, few 
incidents have occurred in the life of this worthy man, 
which demand particular notice. Like a peaceful stream, 
his days glided along, and continued to be lengthened out, 
till the generation of illustrious men, with whom he acted 
on the memorable fourth of July, 1776, had all descended 
to the tomb. He died in 1832. 

" These last thirty years of his life," says a recent writer, 
" have passed away in serenity and happiness, almost un- 
paralleled in the history of man. He has enjoyed, as it 
were, an Indian summer of existence, a tranquil and lovely 
period, when the leaves of the forest are richly variegated, 
but not yet seared ; when the parent bird and the spring 
nestling are of the same flock, and move on equal wing ; 
when the day of increase and the day of the necessity of 
provisions are gone ; when the fruits of the earth are abun- 
dant, and the lakes of the woods are smooth and joyous as 
if reflecting the bowers of Eden. Such an Indian summer 
has this patriot enjoyed : his life has been thrice, yea, four 
times blessed ; blessed in his birth and education, in his 
health, in his basket, and in his store ; blessed in his nu- 
merous and honorable progeny, which extend to several 
generations ; blessed in the protracted measure of his days, 
in which have been crowded the events of many centuries; 
and blessed in the wonderful prosperity of his country, 
whose population has since his birth increased from nine 
hundred thousand souls to more than twelve millions, en- 
joying the blessings of freemen. It is, perhaps, from the 



364 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

fact, that the world think it quite enough for one mortal 
that he should be virtuous, prosperous, and enjoy a green 
old age, that an analysis of his intellectual powers, or a 
description of his rare attainments, has seldom been at- 
tempted ; but talents and attainments he had, that made 
him one of the most successful of the business men of the 
momentous period in which he lived — a period when that 
which the head conceived the hands were ready to execute. 
There were too few at that time, and those too zealous, to 
make the proper division of labor. The senator armed for 
the field, and the soldier met with the Conscript Fathers." 

" Mr. Carroll was an orator. His eloquence was of the 
smooth, gentle, satisfactory kind, delighting all, and con- 
vincing many. It is not pretended that, like John Adams, 
he came down upon his hearers as with the thunder-blast 
from Sinai, raising the tables of independence on high, 
and threatening, in his wrath, to break them if they were 
not received by the people ; nor that, like Dickinson, he 
exhausted rhetoric and metaphysics to gain his end, and 
was forever striving to be heard ; but Carroll came to his 
subject well informed, thoroughly imbued with its spirit, 
and with happy conceptions and graceful delivery, and 
with chaste and delicate language, he, without violence, 
conquered the understandings, and led captive the senses, 
of his hearers. All was natural, yet sweet and polished as 
education could make it. He never seemed *atigued with 
his labors, nor faint with his exertions. His blood and 
judgment were so well commingled, that his highest efforts 
were as easy and natural as if he had been engaged in the 
course of ordinary duties. This happy faculty still contin- 
ues with the patriarch, for his conversation has now that 
elegant vivacity and delicacy that characterized the sage 
Nestor of elder times, whose words fell like vernal snows, 
as he spake to the people. 

" His serenity, and in no small degree, perhaps, his 
longevity, may be owing to the permanency of his princi- 
ples. In early life he founded his political creed on the 
rights of man, and reposing his faith in the religion of his 
fathers, he has felt none of those vacillations and changes 
so common in times of political or religious agitations. It 
were good for the nation that he should long continue 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 365 

among us, for in his presence all party feuds are hushed ; 
and the demagogue, accustomed to vociferate elsewhere, 
in his vanity to be heard, talks not above his breath when 
the aged patriot is near. In a republic where titles are not 
known, we ought to make a peerage of talents, virtues, 
patriotism, and age, that every youth may learn to admire, 
respect, and imitate the wise and good. With all our 
wishes for his stay here on earth, the patriarch must soon 
be gathered to his fathers, and his name given to the his- 
torian and the poet. The bard shall then strike his harp 
and sing, ' in strains not light nor melancholy,' but with 
admiration, touched with religious hope. 

' Full of years and honors, through the gate 
Of painless slumber he retired. 
And as a river pure 

Meets in its course a subterraneous void, 
Then dips his silver head, again to rise, 
And rising glides through fields and meadows new, 
So hath Oileus in those happy climes, 
Where joys ne'er fade, nor the soul's powers decay, 
But youth and spring eternal bloom.' " 

The name of Carroll is the only one on the Declaration 
to which the residence of the signer is appended. The 
reason why it was done in this case, is understood to be 
as follows: — The patriots who signed" that document, did 
it, almost literally, with ropes about their necks, it being 
generally supposed that they would, if unsuccessful, be 
hung as rebels. When Carroll had signed his name, 
some one at his elbow remarked, " You'll get clear — there 
are several of that name — they will not know which to 
take." " Not so," replied he, and immediately added, 
" of Carrollton." 

In 1827, the editor of the Philadelphia National Gazette 
published a biography of Mr. Carroll, which appeared in 
the American Quarterly Review. He records the follow- 
ing fact : — 

In 1825, one of Mr. Carroll's granddaughters was 
married to the marquis of Wellesley, then viceroy of 
Ireland ; and it is a singular circumstance that, one hun- 
dred and forty years after the first emigration of her an- 
cestors to America, this ladv should become vice-queen of 
31* 



366 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

the country from which they fled, at the summit of a 
system which a more immediate ancestor had risked every 
thing to destroy; or, in the energetic and poetical lan- 
guage of Bishop England, " that in the land from which 
his father's father fled in fear, his daughter's daughter now 
reigns as queen." 

From the same publication, it appears that Mr. Carroll, 
some years before our revolutionary war, wrote to a mem- 
ber of the British Parliament as follows : — 

"Your thousands of soldiers may come, but they will 
be masters of the spot only on which they encamp. They 
will find nought but enemies before and around them. 
If we are beaten on the plains, we will retreat to the 
mountains and defy them. Our resources will increase 
with our difficulties. Necessity will force us to exertion ; 
until, tired of combating in vain against a spirit which 
victory cannot subdue, your armies will evacuate our soil, 
and your country retire, an immense loser, from the con- 
test. No, sir ; we have made up our minds to abide the 
issue of the approaching struggle ; and though much blood 
may be spilled, we have no doubt of our ultimate success." 

His whole career, says Mr. Walsh, public and private, 
suited the dignity of his distinctive appellation — the Sur- 
viving Signer. He was always a model of regularity in 
conduct and sedateness in judgment. In natural sagacity, 
in refinement of tastes and pleasures, in unaffected, habit- 
ual courtesy, in vigilant observation, vivacity of spirit and 
tone, susceptibility of domestic and social happiness in the 
best forms, he had but few equals during the greater part 
of his bright and long existence. The mind of Mr. Car- 
roll was highly cultivated ; he fully improved the advan- 
tages of an excellent classical education and extensive for- 
eign travel ; he had read much of ancient and modern 
literature, and gave the keenest attention to contemporary 
events and characters. His patriotism never lost its earn- 
estness and elevation. It was our good fortune, in our 
youth, to pass months at a time under his roof, and we 
never left his mansion without additional impressions of 
peculiar respect for the singular felicity of temperament 
and perfection of self-discipline, from which it resulted 
that no one, neither kindred, domestic, nor guest, could 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 367 

feel his presence and society as in the least oppressive or 
irksome — exact and systematic, opulent and honored, 
enlightened and heedful though he was. 

The announcement of the death of Charles Carroll 
was made as follows in one of the Baltimore papers of 
the date : — 

" It becomes our painful duty to announce to our read- 
ers the demise of the last surviving signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, Charles Carroll of Carrollton is 
no more ! He expired at four o'clock yesterday morning. 
Thus, one after another, the luminaries of the revolution 
are leaving this stage of action, and soon the whole of the 
bright galaxy, which in those dark days adorned the land, 
must be numbered with the silent dead, and live only in 
the grateful recollection of those for whom they have pur- 
chased liberty, independence, prosperity, and happiness. 
Here and there a solitary star remains, to attract the eye 
and warm the hearts of those who love and admire them 
for their virtues and their services. Mr. Carroll had 
reached a good old age, and had the happiness to see 
this young republic, which he had performed so prominent 
a part in aiding to establish, emerge from obscurity, and 
take a station among the most powerful of the nations of 
the earth. He had lived to see her pass triumphantly 
through a second war with the mistress of the seas, as 
England has been long demominated, in which the proud 
Lion was a second time compelled to cower beneath the 
power of the Eagle ; to see her banner waving over every 
sea, and her prowess acknowledged and feared in every 
land. He has lived to witness the anomaly in the records 
of the world, of a powerful people almost entirely clear of 
debt, and without any dangerous or distracting controversy 
subsisting with any foreign power, which can be thought 
likely to require the expenditure of money for the main- 
tenance of her rights. He saw the people for whom he 
had toiled, and pledged his life, his fortune, and his sa- 
cred honor, united, prosperous, and happy, and lived to 
see a worthy fellow-citizen elected a second time to the 
chief magistracy of the nation by an almost unanimous 
voice, embracing a large portion of every section of the 
Union ; thus evincing that there is no reason to appre- 



368 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

hend any danger of a severance of this happy Union. In 
casting a retrospective glance over the path he had trod- 
den in the course of his eventful life, how it warmed and 
animated his heart ! It was a subject upon which he al- 
ways delighted to dwell ; and whenever it was touched 
upon, it caused him almost to forget his age, and to put 
on the vigor and fire of youth. 

" In his own immediate neighborhood, in the place of 
a small and obscure village, he lived to see a large and 
populous city spring up, and assume a station the third 
only in the Union in point of extent, wealth, and com- 
mercial enterprise, and inhabited by a virtuous and gal- 
lant people, partaking of his feelings, and following his 
bright and glorious example. What more could a mortal 
desire to witness ? The cup of happiness with him was 
full to overflowing. He has fought a good fight, and his 
triumph has been complete. He has now run his race, and 
his remains repose in silence, and his grateful countrymen 
are showering their benedictions upon him. Peace to his 
ashes ! — May his brilliant example long serve to animate 
the hearts and nerve the arms of his countrymen." 



SAMUEL CHASE. 

Samuel Chase was born in Somerset county, Mary- 
land, in 1741. He was educated by his father, a distin- 
guished clergyman, who had emigrated to America, and 
whose attainments in classical literature were of a very 
superior order. Under such instruction, the son soon 
outstripped most of his compeers, and at the age of eigh- 
teen was sent to Annapolis to commence the study of the 
law. He was admitted to the bar in that town at the age 
of twenty, and soon after connected himself in marriage 
with a lady, by whom he had two sons and two daughters. 

The political career of Mr. Chase may be dated from 
the year 1774, when he was sent to the Congress of Phil- 
adelphia, as a delegate from his native state. This sta- 
tion he continued to occupy for several years. In 1776, 
he was appointed, in conjunction with Benjamin Franklin 
and Charles Carroll, to proceed to Canada for the pur- 
pose of inducing the inhabitants to cancel their allegiance 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 369 

to Great Britain, and join the American confederacy. 
Although the expedition proved unsuccessful, the zeal 
and ability of the commissioners were never, for a mo- 
ment, brought into question. 

On his return to Philadelphia, Mr. Chase found the 
question of independence in agitation in Congress. The 
situation of the Maryland delegation, at this juncture, was 
embarrassing. They had been expressly prohibited, by 
their constituents, from voting in favor of a declaration of 
independence ; and as they had accepted their appointments 
under this restriction, they did not feel at liberty to give 
their active support to such a measure. It was not compat- 
ible with the spirit of Mr. Chase, quietly to endure such a 
situation. He left Congress, and proceeded to Maryland. 
He traversed the province, and, assisted by his colleagues, 
awakened the people to a sense of patriotism and liberty, 
and persuaded them to send addresses to the Convention, 
then sitting at Annapolis, in favor of independence. Such 
an expression of popular feeling the Convention could not 
resist, and at length gave a unanimous vote for the meas- 
ure of independence. With this vote, Mr. Chase hastened 
to Philadelphia, where he arrived in time to take his seat 
on Monday morning, having rode, on the two previous 
days, one hundred and fifty miles. On the day of his arri- 
val, the resolution to issue a declaration of independence 
came before the house, and he had the privilege of uniting 
with a majority in favor of it. Mr. Chase continued a bold, 
eloquent, and efficient member of Congress throughout 
the war, when he returned to the practice of his profession. 

In 1783, Mr. Chase visited England, on behalf of the 
state of Maryland, for the purpose of reclaiming a large 
amount of property, which, while a colony, she had intrust- 
ed to the Bank of England. He continued in England 
about a year, during which time he became acquainted 
with many of the most distinguished men of that country, 
among whom were Burke, Pitt, and Fox. While in Eng- 
land, he was married to his second wife, the daughter of 
Dr. Samuel Giles, of Kentbury, with whom, in 1784, he 
returned to America. In the year 1786, at the invitation 
of his friend, Colonel Howard, who had generously pre- 
sented him with a portion of land in Baltimore, he removed 



370 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

to that city. On this occasion, the corporation of Annap- 
olis tendered to Mr. Chase the expressions of their respect 
in a flattering address, to. which he made a suitable reply. 
In 1791, he accepted the appointment of chief justice of 
the General Court of Maryland. 

In the year 1794, a circumstance took place in Balti- 
more, in which Judge Chase evinced considerable firmness 
and energy of character. Two men had been tarred and 
feathered in the public streets, on an occasion of some 
popular excitement. The investigation of the case was 
undertaken by him, in the issue of which he caused two 
respectable and influential individuals to be arrested as 
ringleaders. On being arraigned before the court, they 
refused to give bail. Upon this the judge informed them 
that they must go to jail. Accordingly, he directed the 
sheriff to take one of the prisoners to jail. This the sheriff 
declared he could not do, as he apprehended resistance. 
" Summon the posse comitatus, then," exclaimed the judge. 
" Sir," said the sheriff, " no one will serve." " Summon 
me, then," said Judge Chase, in a tone of lofty indignation ; 
" I will be the posse comitatus, and I will take him to jail." 

In 1796, Judge Chase was appointed by Washington an 
associate judge of the Supreme Court of the United States 
— a station which he occupied for fifteen years, and which 
he supported with great dignity and ability. It was his ill 
fortune, however, to have his latter days imbittered by an 
impeachment by the House of Representatives, at Wash- 
ington. This impeachment originated in political animos- 
ities, from the offence which his conduct in the Circuit 
Court had given to the democratic party. The articles of 
impeachment originally reported were six in number, to 
which two others were afterwards added. On five of the 
charges a majority of the Senate acquitted him. On the 
others a majority was against him ; but as a vote of two 
thirds is necessary to conviction, he was acquitted of the 
whole. This celebrated trial commenced on the second 
of January, and ended on the fifth of March, 1805. 

Judge Chase continued to exercise his judicial functions 
till 1811, when his health failed him, and he expired on 
the nineteenth of June in that year. In his dying hour, he 
appeared calm and resigned. He was a firm believer in 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 3? 1 

Christianity, and partook of the sacrament but a short time 
before his death, declaring himself to be in peace with all 
mankind. In his will, he directed that no mourning should 
be worn for him, and requested that only his name, with 
the dates of his birth and death, should be inscribed upon 
his tomb. He was a sincere patriot, and, though of an 
irascible temperament, was a man of high intellect and 
undaunted courage. 



ABRAHAM CLARK. 

The quiet and unobtrusive course of life, which Mr. 
Clark pursued, furnishes few materials for biography. 
He was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, on the 15th 
of February, 1726. He was an only child, and his early 
education, although confined to English branches of study, 
was respectable. For the mathematics and the civil law, 
he discovered an early predilection. He was bred a farm- 
er ; but, not being of a robust constitution, he turned his 
attention to surveying, conveyancing, and imparting legal 
advice. As he performed the latter service gratuitously, 
he was called " the poor man's counsellor." 

Mr. Clark's habits of life and generosity of character 
soon rendered him popular, and, on the commencement of 
the troubles with the mother country, he was chosen one 
of the New Jersey delegation to the Continental Congress. 
Of this body he was a member for a considerable period, 
and was conspicuous for his sound patriotism and his 
unwavering decision. A few days after he took his seat 
for the first time, as a member of Congress, he was called 
upon to vote for, or against, the proclamation of independ- 
ence. But he was at no loss on which side to throw 
his influence, and readily signed the Declaration, which 
placed in peril his fortune and individual safety. 

Mr. Clark frequently after this time represented New 
Jersey in the national councils ; and was also often a 
member of the state legislature. He was elected a rep- 
resentative in the second Congress, under the federal 
constitution — an appointment which he held until a short 
time previous to his death. Two or three of the sons of 
Mr. Clark were officers in the army during the revolu- 



372 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

tionary struggle. Unfortunately, they were captured by 
the enemy. During a part of their captivity, their suffer- 
ings were extreme, being confined in the notorious prison- 
ship Jersey. Painful as was the condition of his sons, 
Mr. Clark scrupulously avoided calling the attention of 
Congress to the subject, excepting in a single instance. 
One of his sons, a captain of artillery, had been cast into a 
dungeon, where he received no other food than that which 
was conveyed to him by his fellow-prisoners through a key- 
hole. On a representation of these facts to Congress, that 
body immediately directed a course of retaliation on a 
British officer. This had the desired effect, and Captain 
Clark's condition was improved. 

On the adjournment of Congress, in June, 1794, Mr. 
Clark retired from public life. He did not live long, 
however, to enjoy the limited comforts he possessed. In 
the autumn of the same year, a stroke of the sun put an 
end to his existence, after it had been lengthened out to 
sixty-nine years. The church at Railway contains his 
mortal remains, and a marble slab marks the spot where 
they are deposited. It bears the following inscription : — 

Firm and decided as a patriot, 

zealous and faithful as a friend to the public, 

he loved his country, 

and adhered to her cause 

in the darkest hours of her struggles 

against oppression. 



GEORGE CLYMER. 

George Clymer was born in the city of Philadelphia, 
in 1739. His father emigrated from Bristol, in England, 
and became connected by marriage with a lady of Phila- 
delphia. Young Clymer was left an orphan at the age of 
seven years, and, after the completion of his studies, he en- 
tered the counting-house of his maternal uncle. At a sub- 
sequent period, he established himself in business, in con- 
nection with Mr. Robert Ritchie, and afterwards with a 
father and son of the name of Meredith, a daughter of the 
former of whom he married. 

Although engaged in mercantile pursuits for many years, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 373 

Mr. Clymer was never warmly attached to them, but de- 
voted a great part of his time to literature and the study 
of the fine arts. He became also well versed in the prin- 
ciples of law, history, and politics, and imbibed an early 
detestation of arbitrary rule and oppression. When all 
hopes of conciliation with the parent country had failed, 
he was one of the foremost to adopt measures necessary 
for a successful opposition. He accepted a captain's com- 
mission in a company of volunteers, raised for the defence 
of the province, and vigorously opposed, in 1773, the sale 
of the tea, which tended indirectly to levy a tax upon the 
Americans, without their consent. He was appointed 
chairman of a committee to wait upon the consignees of 
the offensive article, and request them not to sell it. The 
consequence was, that not a single pound of tea was offered 
for sale in Philadelphia. 

In 1775, Mr. Clymer was chosen a member of the coun- 
cil of safety, and one of the first continental treasurers. 
On the 20th of July of the following year, he was elected 
a member of the Continental Congress. Though not 
present when the vote was taken in relation to a dec- 
laration of independence, he had the honor of affixing his 
signature to that instrument in the following month. In 
December, Congress, finding it necessary to adjourn to 
Baltimore, in consequence of the advance of the British 
army towards Philadelphia, left Mr. Clymer, Robert Mor- 
ris, and George Walton, a committee to transact such 
business as remained unfinished, in that city. In 1777, 
Mr. Clymer was again a member of Congress ; and his 
labors during that session being extremely arduous, he was 
obliged to retire for a season, to repair his health. In the 
autumn of the same year, his family, which then resided 
in the county of Chester, suffered severely from an attack 
of the British ; escaping only with the sacrifice of con- 
siderable property. Mr. Clymer was then in Philadelphia. 
On the arrival of the enemy in that place, they sought out 
his place of residence, and were only diverted from razing 
it to the ground, by learning that it did not belong to him. 
During the same year, he was sent, in conjunction with 
others, to Pittsburg, to enlist warriors from the Shawnese 
and Delaware tribes of Indians, on the side of the United 
32 



374 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

States. While residing at Pittsburg, he narrowly escaped 
death from the tomahawk, by accidentally turning from a 
road, where he afterwards learned a party of hostile sav- 
ages lay encamped. 

On the occasion of the establishment of a bank by 
Robert Morris and other patriotic citizens of Philadelphia, 
for the purpose of relieving the army, Mr. Clymer, who 
gave his active support to the measure, was chosen di- 
rector of the institution. He was again elected to Con- 
gress in 1780, and for two years was a laborious member 
of that body. In 1782, he removed with his family to 
Princeton, N. J., but in 1784, he was summoned by the 
citizens of his native state, to take a part in their General 
Assembly. He afterwards represented Pennsylvania in 
Congress for two years ; when, declining a reelection, he 
closed his long and able legislative career. 

In 1791, Congress passed a bill imposing a duty on 
spirits distilled in the United States. To the southern 
and western part of the country, this measure proved very 
offensive. Mr. Clymer was placed at the head of the ex- 
cise department in the state of Pennsylvania; but he was 
soon induced to resign the disagreeable office. In 1796, 
he was appointed, with Colonel Hawkins and Colonel 
Pickins, to negotiate a treaty with the Cherokee and 
Creek Indians, in Georgia. He sailed for Savannah, ac- 
companied by his wife. The voyage proved extremely 
unpleasant and perilous ; but, having completed the busi- 
ness of the mission, they returned to Philadelphia. Mr. 
Clymer was afterwards called to preside over the Phila- 
delphia Bank, and the Academy of Fine Arts. He held 
these offices till the period of his death, which took place 
on the 23d of January, 1813, in the seventy-fourth year of 
his age. He was of a studious and contemplative cast of 
mind, and eager to promote every scheme for the im- 
provement of his country. His intellect was strong and 
cultivated, his character amiable and pure, and his integ- 
rity inviolable. He was singularly punctual in the dis- 
charge of his duties, and was a man of extensive infor- 
mation and the smallest pretensions. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 375 



WILLIAM ELLERY. 

William Ellery was born in Newport, Rhode Island, 
December 22d, 1727. He was graduated at Harvard Col- 
lege, in his twentieth year, and entered upon the practice 
of the law, at Newport, after the usual preparatory course. 
He acquired a competent fortune from his profession, and 
received the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens. 

Mr. Ellery was elected a delegate to the Congress of 
1776, and took his seat in that body on the 17th of May. 
Here he soon became an efficient and influential member, 
and during the session signed the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. Of this transaction he frequently spoke. He 
relates having placed himself beside secretary Thompson, 
that he might observe how the members looked, as they 
put their names to their death warrant. He tasked his 
powers of penetration, but could discover no symptom of 
fear among them, though all seemed impressed with the 
solemnity of the occasion. In 1777, Mr. Ellery was ap- 
pointed one of the marine committee of Congress, and is 
supposed to have first recommended the plan of preparing 
fireships, and sending them out from the state of Rhode 
Island. He shared considerably in the common loss of 
property, which was sustained by the inhabitants of New- 
port, on the occasion of the British taking possession of 
that town. 

Mr. Ellery continued a member of Congress until the 
year 1785, when he retired to his native state. He was 
successively a commissioner of the continental loan-office, 
a chief justice of the Superior Court of Rhode Island, 
and collector of the customs for the town of Newport. 
He retained the latter office till the day of his death, 
which occurred on the 15th of February, 1820, at the 
advanced age of ninety years. The springs of existence 
seemed to have worn out by gradual and imperceptible 
degrees. On the day of his death, he had risen as usual, 
and rested in his chair, employed in reading " Cicero de 
Officiis." While thus engaged, his family physician called 
to see him. On feeling his pulse, he found that it had 
ceased to beat. A draught of wine and water quickened 
it into motion, however, once more, and being placed and 



376 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

supported on the bed, he continued reading, until his 
bodily functions no longer afforded a tenement for the 
immortal spirit, and discontinued their operations. 

Mr. Ellery was a man of much humility of spirit, and 
manifested an uncommon disregard of the applause of 
men. He looked upon the world and its convulsions with 
religious serenity, and, in times of trouble and alarm, con- 
soled himself and others with the pious reflection of the 
Psalmist, " The Lord reigneth " 



WILLIAM FLOYD. 

William Floyd was born on Long Island, December 
17th, 1734. His father died while he was yet young, and 
left him heir to a large estate. His education was some- 
what limited, but his native powers being respectable, he 
improved himself by his intercourse with the opulent and 
intelligent families of his neighborhood. 

At an early period of the controversy between the colo- 
nies and mother country, Mr. Floyd warmly interested 
himself in the cause of the former. His devotion to the 
popular side led to his appointment as a delegate from 
New York to the first Continental Congress. In the 
measures adopted by that body he most heartily con- 
curred. He was reelected a delegate the following year, 
and continued a member of Congress until after the dec- 
laration of independence. On that occasion he affixed 
his signature to the instrument which gave such a mo- 
mentous direction to the fate of a growing nation. He 
likewise served on numerous important committees, and 
rendered essential service to the patriotic cause. 

Mr. Floyd suffered severely from the destructive effects 
of the war upon his property, and for nearly seven years, 
his family were refugees from their habitation ; nor did he 
derive any benefit from his landed estate. In 1777, Gen- 
eral Floyd (he received this appellation from his having 
commanded the militia on Long Island) was appointed a 
senator of the state of New York. In 1778, he was again 
chosen to represent his native state in the Continental Con- 
gress. From this time, until the expiration of the first 
Congress under the federal constitution, General Floyd 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 377 

was either a member of the National Assembly, or of the 
Senate of New York. In 1784, he purchased an unin- 
habited tract of land on the Mohawk River. To the im- 
provement of this tract, he devoted the leisure of several 
successive summers; and hither he removed his resi- 
dence in 1803. He continued to enjoy unusual health, 
until a few days previous to his decease, when a general 
debility fell upon him, and he died August 4th, 1821, at 
the age of eighty-seven years. General Floyd was uniform 
and independent in his conduct ; and if public estimation 
be a just criterion of his merit, he was excelled by few, 
since for more than fifty years, he was honored with offices 
of trust and responsibility, by his fellow-citizens. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

Benjamin Franklin, the statesman and philosopher, 
was born in Boston, on the 17th of January, 1706. His 
father emigrated from England, and had recourse for a 
livelihood to the business of a chandler and soap-boiler. 
His mother was a native of Boston, and belonged to a re- 
spectable family of the name of Folger. 

Young Franklin was placed at a grammar school at 
an early age, but, at the expiration of a year, was taken 
home to assist his father in his business. In this occupa- 
tion he continued two years, when he became heartily 
tired of cutting wicks for candles, filling moulds, and run- 
ning errands. He resolved to embark on a seafaring life ; 
but his parents objected, having already lost a son at sea. 
Having a passionate fondness for books, he was finally ap- 
prenticed as a printer to his brother, who at that time pub- 
lished a newspaper in Boston. It was while he was in this 
situation, that he began to try his powers of literary com- 
position. Street ballads and articles in a newspaper were 
his first efforts. Many of his essays, which were inserted 
anonymously, were highly commended by people of taste. 
Dissatisfied with the manner in which he was treated by 
his relative, he, at the age of seventeen, privately quitted 
him, and went to Philadelphia. The day following his ar- 
rival, he wandered through the streets of that city with an 
appearance little short of a beggar. His pockets were dis- 
32* 



378 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

tended by his clothes, which were crowded into them ; and, 
provided with a roll of bread under each arm, he proceeded 
through the principal streets of the city. His ludicrous 
appearance attracted the notice of several of the citizens, 
and among others of Miss Reed, the lady whom he after- 
wards married. He soon obtained employment as a print- 
er, and was exemplary in the discharge of his duties. De- 
luded by a promise of patronage from the governor, Sir 
William Keith, Franklin visited England to procure the 
necessary materials for establishing a printing-office in 
Philadelphia. He was accompanied by his friend Ralph, 
one of his literary associates. On their arrival in Lon- 
don, Franklin found that he had been deceived ; and he 
was obliged to work as a journeyman for eighteen months. 
In the British metropolis, the morals of neither of our ad- 
venturers were improved. Ralph conducted as if he had 
forgotten that he had a wife and child across the Atlantic ; 
and Franklin was equally unmindful of his pledges to 
Miss Reed. About this period he published " A Disserta- 
tion on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain." 

In 1726, Franklin returned to Philadelphia ; not long 
after which he entered into business as a printer and sta- 
tioner, and, in 1728, established a newspaper. In 1730, 
he married the lady to whom he was engaged previous to 
his leaving America. In 1732, he began to publish " Poor 
Richard's Almanac," a work which was continued for 
twenty-five years, and which, besides answering the pur- 
poses of a calendar, contained many excellent prudential 
maxims, which rendered it very useful and popular. Ten 
thousand copies of this almanac were published every year 
in America, and the maxims contained in it were often 
translated into the languages of Europe. 

The political career of Franklin commenced in 1736, 
when he was appointed clerk to the General Assembly of 
Pennsylvania. His next office was the valuable one of 
postmaster ; and he was subsequently chosen as a repre- 
sentative. He assisted in the establishment of the Amer- 
ican Philosophical Society, and of a college, which now 
exists under the title of the University of Pennsylvania. 
Chiefly by his exertions, a public library, a fire-preventing 
company, an insurance company, and a voluntary associa- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 379 

tion for defence, were established at Philadelphia. He 
was chosen a member of the Provincial Assembly, to which 
body he was annually reelected for ten years. Philosophy 
now began to attract his attention, and, in 1749, he made 
those inquiries into the nature of electricity, the results of 
which placed him high among the men of science of the 
age. The experiment of the kite is well known. He had 
conceived the idea of explaining the phenomena of light- 
ning upon electrical principles. While waiting for the 
erection of a spire for the trial of his theory, it occurred 
to him that he might have more ready access to the re- 
gion of clouds by means of a common kite. He accord- 
ingly prepared one for the purpose, affixing to the upright 
stick an iron point. The string was, as usual, of hemp, 
except the lower end, which was silk, and where the 
hempen part terminated, a key was fastened. With this 
simple apparatus, on the appearance of a thunder-cloud, 
he went into the fields, accompanied by his son, to whom 
alone he communicated his intentions, dreading probably 
the ridicule which frequently attends unsuccessful attempts 
in experimental philosophy. For some time, no sign of 
electricity presented itself; he was beginning to despair 
of success, when he suddenly observed the loose fibres of 
the string to start forward in an erect position. He now 
presented his knuckle to the key, and received a strong 
spark. On this depended the fate of his theory ; repeated 
sparks were drawn from the key, a phial was charged, a 
shock given, and all the experiments made which are 
usually performed with electricity. This great discovery 
he applied to the securing of buildings from the effects of 
lightning. 

In 1753, Dr. Franklin was appointed deputy postmaster- 
general of British America. In this station, he rendered 
important services to General Braddock, in his expedition 
against Fort Du duesne, and marched at the head of a 
company of volunteers to the protection of the frontier. 
He visited England in 1757, as agent for the colony of 
Pennsylvania, and was also intrusted by the other colonies 
with important business. While in London, he wrote a 
pamphlet, pointing out the advantages of a conquest of 
Canada by the English ; and his arguments are believed 



380 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

to have conduced considerably to that event. About this 
period, his talents as a philosopher were duly appreciated 
in various parts of Europe. He was admitted a fellow of 
the Royal Society of London, and the degree of doctor of 
laws was conferred upon him at St. Andrews, Edinburgh, 
and at Oxford. 

In 1762, he returned to America, and in 1764 was 
again appointed the agent of Pennsylvania, to manage her 
concerns in England, in which country he arrived in the 
month of December. About this period, the stamp act 
was exciting violent commotions in America. To this 
measure Dr. Franklin was strongly opposed, and he pre- 
sented a petition against it, which, at his suggestion, had 
been drawn up by the Pennsylvania Assembly. Among 
others, he was summoned before the House of Commons, 
where he underwent a long examination. His answers 
were fearless and decisive, and to his representations the 
repeal of the act was, no doubt, in a great measure, at- 
tributable. In the year 1766 — 67, he made an excursion 
to Holland, Germany, and France, where he met with a 
most flattering reception. He was chosen a member of 
the French Academy of Sciences, and received diplomas 
from many other learned societies. 

Certain letters had been written by Governor Hutchin- 
son, addressed to his friends in England, which reflected 
in the severest manner upon the people of America. 
These letters had fallen into the hands of Dr. Franklin, 
and by him had been transmitted to America, where they 
were at length inserted in the public journals. For a time, 
no one in England knew through what channel the letters 
had been conveyed to America. In 1773, Franklin pub- 
licly avowed himself to be the person who obtained the 
letters and transmitted them to America. This produced 
a violent clamor against him, and upon his attending be- 
fore the privy council, in the following January, to present 
a petition from the colony of Massachusetts, for the dismis- 
sal of Governor Hutchinson, a most abusive invective was 
pronounced against him, by Mr. Weddeburne, afterwards 
Lord Loughborough. Among other epithets, the honor- 
able member called Franklin a coward, a murderer, and a 
thief. During the whole of this insulting harangue, Frank- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 381 

lin sat with a composed and unaverted aspect, " as if his 
countenance had been made of wood." Throughout this 
personal and public outrage, the whole assembly seemed 
greatly amused at Doctor Franklin's expense. The presi- 
dent even laughed aloud. There was a single person 
present, however, Lord North, who — to his honor be it 
recorded — expressed great disapprobation of the indecent 
conduct of the assembly. The intended insult, however, 
was entirely lost. The coolness and dignity of Franklin 
soon discomposed his enemies, who were compelled to 
feel the superiority of his character. Their animosity 
caused him to be removed from the office of postmaster- 
general, interrupted the payment of his salary as agent 
for the colonies, and finally instituted against him a suit 
in chancery concerning the letters of Hutchinson. 

Despairing of restoring harmony between the colonies 
and mother country, Doctor Franklin embarked for Amer- 
ica, where he arrived in 1775. He was received with 
every mark of esteem and admiration. He was imme- 
diately elected a delegate to the General Congress, and 
signed the Declaration of Independence. In 1776, he 
was deputed, with others, to proceed to Canada, to per- 
suade the people of that province to throw off the British 
yoke ; but the inhabitants of Canada had been so much 
disgusted with the zeal of the people of New England, 
who had burnt some of their chapels, that they refused to 
listen to the proposals made to them by Franklin and his 
associates. In 1778, he was despatched by Congress, as 
ambassador to France. The treaty of alliance with the 
French government, and the treaties of peace, in 1782 
and 1783, as well as treaties with Sweden and Prussia, 
were signed by him. On his reaching Philadelphia, in 
September, 1785, his arrival was hailed by applauding 
thousands of his countrymen, who conducted him in tri- 
umph to his residence. This was a period of which 
he always spoke with peculiar pleasure. In 1788, he with- 
drew from public life, and on the 17th of April, 1790, he 
expired in the city of Philadelphia, in the eighty-fourth 
year of his age. Congress directed a general mourning 
for him throughout the United States; and the National 
Assembly of France decreed that each member should 



382 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

wear mourning for three days. Doctor Franklin lies 
buried in the north-west corner of Christ Churchyard, in 
Philadelphia. In his will he directed that no monumental 
ornaments should mark his grave. A small marble slab 
points out the spot where he lies. 

Doctor Franklin had two children, a son and a daugh- 
ter. The son, under the British government, was ap- 
pointed governor of New Jersey. On the breaking out 
of the revolution, he took up his residence in England, 
where he spent the remainder of his days. The daughter 
was respectably married, in Philadelphia, to Mr. William 
Bache, whose descendants still reside in that city. 

In stature, Dr. Franklin was above the middle size. 
He possessed a sound constitution, and his countenance 
indicated a placid state of mind, great depth of thought, 
and an inflexible resolution. In youth he took a skeptical 
turn with regard to religion, but his strength of mind led 
him to fortify himself against vice by such moral princi- 
ples as directed him to the most valuable ends, by honor- 
able means. According to the testimony of his most in- 
timate friend, Dr. William Smith, he became, in maturer 
years, a believer in divine revelation. The following 
epitaph on himself was written by Doctor Franklin, many 
years previously to his death : — 

The body of 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Printer, 

like the cover of an old book, 

its contents torn out, 

and stripped of its lettering and gilding, 

lies here food for worms. 

Yet the work itself shall not be lost; 

for it will (as he believed) appear once more 

in a new 

and more beautiful edition, 

corrected and amended 

by the Author. 



ELBRIDGE GERRY. 

Elbridge Gerry was born at Marblehead, in the state 
of Massachusetts, July 17th, 1744. He became a member 
of Harvard College before his fourteenth year, and, on 
leaving the university, engaged in commercial pursuits at 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES* 383 

Marblehead, under the direction of his father. His in- 
clination would have led him to the study of medicine ; 
but great success attended his mercantile enterprise, and, 
in a few years, he found himself in the enjoyment of a 
competent fortune. 

In May, 1772, Mr. Gerry was chosen a representative 
to the General Court of Massachusetts, to which office he 
was reelected the following year. During this year, he 
was appointed one of the committee of correspondence 
and inquiry. In June, the celebrated letters of Governor 
Hutchinson to persons in England were laid before the 
house by Mr. Adams. In the debates on this disclosure, 
Mr. Gerry highly distinguished himself. He was also 
particularly active in the scenes of 1774. He was a 
member of the Provincial Congress which met at Con- 
cord, and powerfully contributed to the measures of oppo- 
sition which led to the revolution. In 1775, the new 
Provincial Congress, of which he was one, assembled at 
Cambridge. In this body, he evinced a degree of patri- 
otic intrepidity, which was surpassed by none. 

A committee of Congress, among whom were Mr. 
Gerry, Colonel Orne, and Colonel Hancock, had been in 
session in the village of Menotomy, then part of the town- 
ship of Cambridge. The latter gentleman, after the close 
of the session, had gone to Lexington. Mr. Gerry and 
Mr. Orne remained at the village; the other members of 
the committee had dispersed. Some officers of the royal 
army had passed through the villages just before dusk, 
and the circumstance so far attracted the attention of Mr. 
Gerry, that he despatched an express to Colonel Hancock, 
who, with Samuel Adams, was at Lexington. Mr. Gerry 
and Colonel Orne retired to rest, without taking the least 
precaution against personal exposure, and they remained 
quietly in their beds, until the British advance were within 
view of the dwelling-house. It was a beautiful night, and 
the polished arms of the soldiers glittered in the moon- 
beams, as they moved on in silence. The front passed 
on. When the centre were opposite the house occupied 
by the committee, an officer and file of men were detached 
by signal, and marched towards it. The inmates, for 
whom they were in search, found means to escape, half- 



384 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

dressed, into an adjoining cornfield, where they remained 
concealed until the troops were withdrawn. Every part 
of the house was searched for " the members of the rebel 
Congress ; " even the beds in which they had lain were 
examined. But their property, and, among other things, 
a valuable watch of Mr. Gerry's, which was under his 
pillow, were undisturbed. 

On the 17th day of June, the memorable battle of 
Bunker Hill was fought. The Provincial Congress was 
at that time in session at Watertown. Before the battle, 
Dr. Joseph Warren, president of the Congress, who was the 
companion and room-mate of Mr. Gerry, communicated to 
him his intention of mingling in the approaching contest. 
The night preceding the doctor's departure to the scene of 
battle, he is said to have lodged in the same bed with Mr. 
Gerry. In the morning, in reply to the admonitions of his 
friend, he uttered the well-known words, " Dulce et de- 
corum est pro patria mori." * The sweetness and the 
glory he but too truly experienced, and died one of the 
earliest victims to the cause of his country's freedom. 

In 1775, Mr. Gerry proposed a law in the Provincial 
Congress of Massachusetts, to encourage the fitting out 
of armed vessels, and to provide for the adjudication of 
prizes. This important measure was passed, and, under 
its sanction, several of the enemy's vessels, with valuable 
cargoes, were captured. In 1776, Mr. Gerry was chosen 
a delegate to the Continental Congress, in which body he 
shortly after took his seat. His services in this capacity 
were numerous and important. Having married in New 
York, he returned to his native state, and fixed his resi- 
dence at Cambridge, a few miles from Boston. In 1787, 
Mr. Gerry was chosen a delegate to the Convention which 
assembled at Philadelphia, to revise the articles of confed- 
eration. To him there appeared strong objections to the 
federal constitution, and he declined affixing his sig- 
nature to the instrument. But when that constitution 
had gone into effect, and he was chosen a representative 
to Congress, he cheerfully united in its support, since it 
had received the sanction of the country. 

* It is sweet and glorious to die for one's country. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 385 

In 1797, Mr. Gerry was appointed to accompany Gen- 
eral Pinckney and Mr. Marshall on a special mission to 
France. On their arrival in Paris, the tools of the gov- 
ernment made the extraordinary demand of a large sum 
of money, as the condition of any negotiation. This 
being refused, the ridiculous attempt was made by the 
Directory, to excite their fears for themselves and their 
country. In the spring of 1798, two of the envoys, 
Messrs. Pinckney and Marshall, were ordered to quit the 
territories of France, while Mr. Gerry was invited to re- 
main, and resume the negotiation which had been sus- 
pended. He accepted the invitation to remain, but reso- 
lutely refused to resume the negotiation. His object in 
remaining was to prevent an immediate rupture with 
France, which, it was feared, would result from his de- 
parture. His continuance seems to have eventuated in 
the good of his country. " He finally saved the peace of 
the nation," said the late President Adams, " for he alone 
discovered and furnished the evidence that X. Y. and Z. 
were employed by Talleyrand ; and he alone brought 
home the direct, formal, and official assurances, upon 
which the subsequent commission proceeded, and peace 
was made." 

Mr. Gerry returned to America in 1798, and in 1805 
was elected, by the republican party, governor of Massa- 
chusetts. In the following year he retired, but in 1810 
was again chosen chief magistrate of that commonwealth, 
which office he held for two succeeding years. In 1812, 
he was elected vice-president of the United States, into 
which office he was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 
1813. While attending to his duties at Washington, he 
was suddenly summoned from the scene of his earthly 
labors. A beautiful monument, erected at the national 
expense, bears the following inscription : — 

THE TOMB OF 

ELBRIDGE GERRY, 

Vice-President of the United States, 

who died suddenly, in this city, on his way to the 

Capitol, as President of the Senate, 

November 23d, 1814, 

aged 70. 



386 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 



BUTTON GWINNETT. 

Button Gwinnett was born in England, about the 
year 1732, and, on coming of age, became a merchant in 
the city of Bristol. Some time after his marriage in his 
native country, he removed to Charleston, South Carolina ; 
and, having continued there two years, he purchased a 
large tract of land in Georgia, where he became exten- 
sively engaged in agricultural pursuits. 

Mr. Gwinnett had long taken a deep interest in the 
welfare of the colonies ; but he despaired of a successful 
resistance to Great Britain. His sentiments on this point, 
however, underwent a great change, and he became a 
warm advocate for opposing the unjust exactions of the 
mother country. In 1776, he was elected a represen- 
tative of the province of Georgia, in Congress. He ac- 
cordingly repaired to Philadelphia, and took his seat in 
the national Council, to which he was reelected the en- 
suing year. He was afterwards a member of the Con- 
vention held at Savannah, to frame a constitution for the 
state, and is said to have furnished the outlines of the 
constitution which was finally adopted. On the death of 
the president of the Provincial Council, Mr. Gwinnett was 
elected to the vacant station. In this situation he seems 
to have indulged in an unbecoming hostility towards an 
old political rival, Colonel Mcintosh ; adopting several 
expedients to mortify his adversary, and never divesting 
himself of his imbittered hatred towards him. In an ex- 
pedition which he had projected against East Florida, 
Mr. Gwinnett designed to command the continental troops 
and militia of Georgia himself, thereby excluding Colonel 
Mcintosh from the command even of his own brigade. 

Just at this period, it became necessary to convene the 
legislature. In consequence of his official duties, Mr. 
Gwinnett was prevented from proceeding on the expedi- 
tion. He therefore appointed to the command a subordi- 
nate officer of Mcintosh's brigade. The expedition failed 
entirely, and contributed to defeat the election of Mr. 
Gwinnett as governor of the state. This failure blasted, 
his hopes, and brought his political career to a close. 
McTntosh was foolish enough to exult in the mortification 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 387 

of his adversary. The consequence was, that Mr. Gwin- 
nett presented him a challenge. They fought at the dis- 
tance of only twelve feet. Both were severely wounded. 
The wound of Mr. Gwinnett proved fatal. He expired 
on the 27th of May, 1777, in the forty-fifth year of his 
age, — a melancholy instance of the misery produced by 
harboring in the heart the absorbing passion of rancor- 
ous envy. 

In person, Mr. Gwinnett was tall, and of a noble appear- 
ance. In his temper, he was irritable ; but in his man- 
ners, courteous, graceful, and polite. 



LYMAN HALL. 

Lyman Hall was born in Connecticut, about the year 
1731. After receiving a collegiate education, and acquir- 
ing a competent knowledge of medicine, he removed to 
Georgia, where he established himself in his profession, 
in Sunbury, in the district of Medway. On the com- 
mencement of the struggle with Great Britain, he accepted 
of a situation in the parish of St. John, which was a 
frontier settlement, and exposed to incursions of the Creek 
Indians, and of the royalists of Florida. The parish of 
St. John, at an early period, entered with spirit into the 
opposition to the mother country, while the rest of Geor- 
gia generally maintained different sentiments. So widely 
opposite were the feelings of this patriotic parish to those 
of the other inhabitants of the province, that an almost 
total alienation took place between them. 

In 1774, the liberal party held a general meeting, at 
Savannah, where Dr. Hall appeared as a representative 
of the parish of St. John. The measures adopted, how- 
ever, fell far short of his wishes, and those of his constitu- 
ents. At a subsequent meeting, it was agreed to petition 
the king for a redress of grievances. 

, The parish of St. John, dissatisfied with the half-way 
measures of the Savannah Convention, endeavored to 
negotiate an alliance with the committee of correspond- 
ence in Charleston, South Carolina. But this being 
impracticable, the inhabitants of St. John resolved to cut 
off all commercial intercourse with Savannah and the 



388 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

surrounding parishes. Having taken this independent 
stand, they next made a unanimous choice of Dr. Hall 
as their representative to Congress. In the following 
May, Dr. Hall appeared in the hall of Congress, and by 
that body was unanimously admitted to a seat ; but, as he 
did not represent the whole of Georgia, it was resolved 
to reserve the question, as to his right to vote, for further 
deliberation. Fortunately, however, on the 15th of July, 
Georgia acceded to the general confederacy, and proceed- 
ed to the appointment of five delegates to Congress, three 
of whom attended at the adjourned meeting of that body 
in 1775. 

Among these delegates, Dr. Hall was one. He was 
annually reelected until 1780, when he retired from the 
national legislature. On the possession of Georgia by 
the British, his property was confiscated, and he obliged 
to leave the state. He returned in 1782, and the follow- 
ing year was elected to the chief magistracy of Georgia. 
After holding this office for some time, he retired from 
public life, and died at his residence in Burke county, 
about the sixtieth year of his age. 



JOHN HANCOCK. 

John Hancock was born in duincy, Massachusetts, in 
the year 1737. Both his father and grandfather were 
clergymen. Having lost the former relative while yet a 
child, he was adopted by a paternal uncle, Thomas Han- 
cock, " the most opulent merchant in Boston, and the most 
enterprising man in New England." A professorship 
had been founded in Harvard College by his liberality, 
and to the library of that institution he was a principal 
benefactor. 

Under the patronage of his uncle, the nephew received 
a liberal education in the above university, where he was 
graduated in 1754. On leaving college, he was employed, 
as a clerk in the counting-house of his uncle, where he 
continued till 1760, when he visited England for the pur- 
pose of extending his information and correspondence. 
He returned to America in 1764 ; shortly after which, his 
uncle died, leaving him the direction of his enormous 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 3b9 

business, and a fortune the largest in the province. Han- 
cock became neither haughty nor profligate by this sud- 
den accession of wealth. He was kind and liberal to the 
numerous persons dependent upon him for employment, 
and maintained a character for integrity and ability in the 
management of his vast and complicated concerns. His 
princely estate, added to his honorable and generous char- 
acter, soon gave him influence, and ever rendered him 
popular. 

In 1766, he was chosen a member of the legislature 
of Massachusetts, and thus became intimately associated 
with James Otis, Samuel Adams, and other distinguished 
patriots. In this assembly, his genius rapidly developed 
itself, and he became conspicuous for the purity of his 
principles, and the excellence of his abilities. 

The arrival of a vessel belonging to Mr. Hancock, in 
1768, which was said to be loaded contrary to the revenue 
laws, produced a violent ebullition of popular feeling. 
This vessel was seized by the custom-house officers, and 
placed under the guns of the Romney, at that time in the 
harbor, for security. This seizure greatly exasperated 
the people, and, in their excitement, they assaulted the 
revenue officers, and compelled them to seek safety on 
board the armed vessel, or in the neighboring castle. 
The boat of the collector was destroyed, and several of 
the houses of his partisans were razed to the ground. 
Mr. Hancock, although in no wise concerned in the 
transaction, received from it a considerable accession of 
popularity. 

A few days after the affray which is usually termed 
" the Boston Massacre," and to which we have briefly 
adverted in the sketch of Samuel Adams, Mr. Hancock 
was appointed to deliver an address in commemoration of 
the event. After speaking of his attachment to a just 
government, and his detestation of tyranny, he proceeded 
to describe the profligacy and abandoned life of the troops 
quartered amongst them. Not satisfied with their own 
shameful debauchery, they strove to vitiate the morals of 
the citizens, and " thereby render them worthy of destruc- 
tion." He spoke in terms of unmeasured indignation of 
the massacre of the inhabitants, and in appalling lan- 
33* 



390 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

guage forewarned the perpetrators of the deed of the 
vengeance which would overtake them hereafter, " if the 
laboring earth did not expand her jaws; if the air they 
breathed were not commissioned to be the immediate 
minister of death." He proceeded in the following spir- 
ited strain : — 

" But I gladly quit this theme of death. I would not 
dwell too long upon the horrid effects which have already 
followed from quartering regular troops in this town ; let 
our misfortunes instruct posterity to guard against these 
evils. Standing armies are sometimes (I would by no 
means say generally, much less universally) composed 
of persons who have rendered themselves unfit to live in 
civil society ; who are equally indifferent to the glory of 
a George or a Louis ; who, for the addition of one penny 
a day to their wages, would desert from the Christian 
cross, and fight under the crescent of the Turkish sultan : 
from such men as these what has not a state to fear ? 
With such as these, usurping Caesar passed the Rubicon ; 
with such as these, he humbled mighty Rome, and forced 
the mistress of the world to own a master in a traitor. 
These are the men whom sceptred robbers now employ to 
frustrate the designs of God, and render vain the bounties 
which his gracious hand pours indiscriminately upon his 
creatures." 

The intrepid style of this address removed all doubts as 
to the devoted patriotism of Mr. Hancock. His manners 
and habits had spread an opinion unfavorable to his re- 
publican principles. His mansion rivalled the magnifi- 
cence of a European palace. Gold and silver embroidery 
adorned his garments ; and his carriage, horses, and ser- 
vants in livery, emulated the splendor of the English nobil- 
ity. But the sentiments expressed by him in the above 
address were so public and explicit as to cause a complete 
renovation of his popularity. From this time, he became 
odious to the governor and his adherents. Efforts were 
made to get possession of his person, and he, with Samuel 
Adams', was excluded from the general pardon offered by 
Governor Gage to all who would manifest a proper peni- 
tence for their opposition to the royal authority. 

In 1774, Hancock was unanimously elected to the 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 391 

presidential chair of the Provincial Congress of Massachu- 
setts. The following year, the honor of the presidency of 
the Continental Congress was conferred upon him. His 
recent proscription by Governor Gage, no doubt, contrib- 
uted to his popularity in that body. In this station Han- 
cock continued till October, 1777 ; when his infirm health 
induced him to resign his office. He was afterwards a 
member of the Convention appointed to frame a constitu- 
tion for Massachusetts, and in 1780 was chosen first gov- 
ernor of the commonwealth, to which station he was 
annually elected, until the year 1785, when he resigned. 
After an interval of two years, he was reelected to the 
same office. He continued in it till the time of his death, 
which took place the 8th of October, 1793, in the fifty-fifth 
year of his age, 

Mr. Hancock was a firm and energetic patriot, and, 
though possessed of immense wealth, devoted himself to 
the laborious service of his country. It has been remarked, 
that by the force with which he inscribed his name on 
the parchment, which bears the declaration of independ- 
ence, he seems to have determined that his name should 
never be erased. His liberality was great, and hundreds 
of families, in times of distress, were daily fed from his 
munificence. He has been accused by his enemies of a 
passion for popularity ; but, whatever may have been the 
truth of the charge, a fondness for being beloved can be 
hardly reckoned among the bad traits of a man's character. 
A noble instance of his contempt of wealth, in comparison 
with public expediency, is recorded. 

At the time the American army was besieging Boston 
to expel the British, who held possession of the town, the 
entire destruction of the place was proposed by the Ameri- 
can officers. By the execution of such a plan, the whole 
fortune of Mr. Hancock would have been sacrificed. Yet 
he readily acceded to the measure, declaring his willing- 
ness to surrender his all, whenever the liberties of his 
country should require it. 



39& THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 



BENJAMIN HARRISON. 

Benjamin Harrison was born in Berkley, Virginia. He 
was the descendant of a family distinguished in the history 
of the state, and was a student in the College of William 
and Mary, at the time of his father's death. In conse- 
quence of a misunderstanding with an officer of that insti- 
tution, he left it before the regular period of graduation, 
and returned home. 

The management of his father's estate now devolved 
upon him, and he displayed an unusual degree of pru- 
dence and ability in the discharge of his trust. He was 
summoned at an early date, even before he had attained 
the age required by law, to sustain the reputation acquired 
by his ancestors, in state affairs. He was chosen a mem- 
ber of the legislature about the year 1764, a station which 
he may be said to have held through life, since he was 
always elected to a seat, whenever his other political 
avocations admitted of his occupying it. His fortune 
being ample, and his influence as a political leader very 
considerable, the royal government proposed to create him 
a member of the Executive Council of Virginia. Mr. Har- 
rison was not to be seduced, however, by the attractions 
of rank and power. Though young, he was ardently de- 
voted to the cause of the people, and remained steadfast in 
his opposition to royal oppression. 

Mr. Harrison was a member of the Congress of 1774, 
and from that period, during nearly every session, repre- 
sented his native state in that assembly. In this situation 
he was characterized for great firmness, good sense, and a 
peculiar sagacity in difficult and critical junctures. He 
was likewise extremely popular as chairman of the com- 
mittee of the whole house. An anecdote is related of 
him on the occasion of the declaration of independence. 
While signing the instrument, he noticed Mr. Gerry, of 
Massachusetts, standing beside him. Mr. Harrison him- 
self was quite corpulent ; Mr. Gerry was slender and spare. 
As the former raised his hand, having inscribed his name 
on the roll, he turned to Mr. Gerry, and facetiously ob- 
served, that when the time of hanging should come, he 
should have the advantage over him. " It will be over 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 393 

with me," said he, " in a minute ; but you will be kicking 
in the air half an hour after I am gone." 

Towards the close of 1777, Mr. Harrison resigned his 
seat in Congress, and returned to Virginia. In 1782, he 
was chosen governor of the state, to which office he was 
twice reelected, when he became ineligible by the pro- 
visions of the constitution. In 1788, when the new con- 
stitution of the United States was submitted to Virginia, he 
was returned a member of her Convention. In 1790, he 
was again proposed as a candidate for the executive chair, 
but declined in favor of his friend, Beverly Randolph. In 
the spring of 1791, Mr. Harrison was attacked by a severe 
fit of the gout, a recurrence of which malady shortly after 
put a period to his life. 

Mr. Harrison became connected by marriage with Miss 
Bassett, a niece to the sister of Mrs. Washington. He 
had many children, and several of his sons became men of 
distinction. His third son, William Henry Harrison, has 
honorably served his country in various official capacities, 
and died April 4, 1841, one month after his inauguration 
as President of the United States. 



JOHN HART. 

John Hart was the son of Edward Hart, of Hopewell, 
in the county of Hunterdon, in New Jersey. He inherited 
from his father a considerable estate, and, having married, 
devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, and became a 
worthy and respectable farmer. 

The reputation which he acquired for integrity, dis- 
crimination, and enlightened prudence, soon brought him 
into notice, and he was often chosen a member of the Co- 
lonial Assembly. Although one of the most gentle and 
unobtrusive of men, he could not suppress his abhorrence 
of the aggressions of the British ministry. He maintained 
a fearless and uniform opinion with regard to the rights of 
the colonies, and did not hesitate to express it when occa- 
sion invited him. On the meeting of the Congress of 1774, 
Mr. Hart appeared and took his seat ; having been elected 
by a conference of committees from several parts of the 



394 THJC AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

colony. During several succeeding sessions, he continued 
to represent the people of New Jersey, in the same Assembly. 
When the question of a declaration of independence was 
brought forward, he was at his post, and voted for the 
measure with unusual zeal. 

In 1776, New Jersey became the theatre of war, and 
Mr. Hart sustained severe losses, by the destruction of his 
property. His children were compelled to flee, his farm 
was pillaged, and great exertions were made to secure him 
as a prisoner. For some time he was hunted with untir- 
ing perseverance. He was reduced to the most distressing 
shifts to elude his enemies ; being often severely pressed 
by hunger, and destitute of a place of repose for the night. 
In one instance, he was obliged to conceal himself in the 
usual resting-place of a large dog, who was his companion 
for the time. 

The battles of Trenton and Princeton led to the evacu- 
ation of New Jersey by the British. On this event, Mr. 
Hart again collected his family around him, and began to 
repair the desolation of his farm. His constitution, how- 
ever, had sustained a shock which was irreparable. His 
health gradually failed him ; and though he lived to see 
the prospects of his country brighten, he died before the 
conflict was so gloriously terminated. He expired in the 
year 1780. The best praise that can be awarded to Mr. 
Hart, is, that he was beloved by all who knew him. He 
was very liberal to the Baptist church of Hopewell, to 
which community he belonged ; and his memory was hal- 
lowed by the esteem and regret of a large circle of friends. 



JOSEPH HEWES. 

Joseph Hewes was born near Kingston, in New Jer- 
sey, in the year 1730. His parents were Quakers, who 
removed from Connecticut, on account of the existing 
prejudices against them among the Puritans, and of the 
hostilities of the Indians. 

At a suitable age, Joseph Hewes became a member of 
Princeton College ; and, after having graduated in due 
course, he was placed in the counting-house of a gentle- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 395 

man at Philadelphia, to be educated as a merchant. On 
leaving this situation, he entered into business for himself, 
and was highly successful in his commercial transactions. 
At the age of thirty he removed to North Carolina, and 
settled in the village of Edenton. Prosperity continued 
to attend him here, and he soon acquired a handsome for- 
tune. By his probity and liberal dealings, he also gained 
the esteem of the people among whom he lived, and was 
called to represent them in the colonial legislature of the 
province. This distinction was conferred upon him for 
several successive years, during which he increased in 
popularity with his constituents. 

In 1774, Mr. Hewes was chosen one of the three dele- 
gates from North Carolina to the Continental Congress. 
No members of that body brought with them credentials 
of a bolder stamp than the delegates from North Carolina. 
They were invested with such powers as might " make 
any acts done by them, or consent given in behalf of this 
province, obligatory in honor upon any inhabitant thereof, 
who is not an alien to his country's good, and an apostate 
to the liberties of America." On the meeting of this 
Congress, Mr. Hewes was nominated one of the committee 
appointed to " state the rights of the colonies in general, 
the several instances in which those rights had been vio- 
lated or infringed, and the means most proper to be pur- 
sued for obtaining a restoration of them." He also assist- 
ed in preparing their celebrated report, which was drawn 
up as follows : — 

"1. That they are entitled to life, liberty, and property ; 
and they have never ceded to any sovereign power what- 
ever a right to dispose of either, without their consent. 

"2. That our ancestors, who first settled these colonies, 
were, at the time of their emigration from the mother 
country, entitled to all the rights, liberties, and immunities 
of free and natural born subjects, within the realm of 
England. 

"3. That by such emigration they by no means for- 
feited, surrendered, or bst, any of those rights ; but that 
they were, and their descendants now are, entitled to the 
exercise and enjoyment of all such of them as their local 



396 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

and other circumstances enable them to exercise and 
enjoy. 

" 4. That the foundation of English liberty, and of free 
government, is a right in the people to participate in their 
legislative council ; and as the English colonists are not 
represented, and, from their local and other circumstances, 
cannot properly be represented in the British Parliament, 
they are entitled to a free and exclusive power of legisla- 
tion in their several provincial legislatures, where their 
right of representation can alone be pursued in all cases 
of taxation and internal polity, subject only to the negative 
of their sovereign, in such manner as has been hereto- 
fore used and accustomed ; but if, from the necessity of 
the case, and a regard to the mutual interests of both 
countries, we cheerfully consent to the operation of such 
acts of the British Parliament as are bona jide restrained 
to the regulation of our external commerce, for the pur- 
pose of securing the commercial advantages of the whole 
empire to the mother country, and the commercial benefit 
of its respective members ; excluding every idea of taxa- 
tion, internal or external, for raising a revenue on the sub- 
jects in America, without their consent. 

" 5. That the respective colonies are entitled to the 
common law of England, and, more especially, to the 
great and inestimable privilege of being tried by their 
peers of the vicinage, according to the course of that law, 

" b*. That they are entitled to the benefit of such of the 
English statutes as existed at the time of their coloniza- 
tion, and which they have, by experience, respectively 
found applicable to their several local and other circum- 
stances. 

" 7. That these his majesty's colonies are likewise en- 
titled to all the immunities and privileges granted and con- 
firmed to them by royal charters, or secured by their 
several codes of provincial laws. 

" 8. That they have a right peaceably to assemble, con- 
sider of their grievances, and petition the king ; and that 
all prosecutions, prohibitory proclamations, and commit- 
ments for the same, are illegal. 

" 9. That the keeping a standing army in these colonies 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 39? 

in times of peace, without consent of the legislature of 
that colony in which such army is kept, is against the law. 

" 10. It is indispensably necessary to good government, 
and rendered essential by the English constitution, that 
the constituent branches of the legislature be independent 
of each other ; and therefore the exercise of legislative 
power in several colonies by a council appointed during 
pleasure by the crown, is unconstitutional, dangerous, and 
destructive to the freedom of American legislation. 

" All and each of which the aforesaid deputies, in be- 
half of themselves and their constituents, do claim, de- 
mand, and insist on, as their indisputable rights and lib- 
erties, which cannot be legally taken from them, altered, 
or abridged, by any power whatever, without their con- 
sent, by their representatives in their several provincial 
legislatures." 

To the above declaration of rights was added an enu- 
meration of the wrongs already sustained by the colonies ; 
after stating which, the report concluded as follows : — - 

" To these grievous acts and measures Americans can- 
not submit ; but in hopes their fellow-subjects in Great 
Britain will, on a revision of them, restore us to that state 
in which both countries found happiness and prosperity, 
we have, for the present, only resolved to pursue the fol- 
lowing peaceable measures: 1. To enter into a non-im- 
portation, non-consumption, and non-exportation agree- 
ment or association ; 2. to prepare an address to the peo- 
ple of Great Britain, and a memorial to the inhabitants 
of British America ; and, 3. to prepare a loyal address to 
his majesty, agreeably to resolutions already entered into." 

Although engaged in extensive commercial transactions, 
Mr. Hewes, about this time, assisted in forming the plan 
of the non-importation association, and readily became a 
member of it. He was again elected to Congress by the 
people of North Carolina in 1775, and remained in Phila- 
delphia until the adjournment of that assembly in July. 
He continued to represent the same state, almost without 
intermission, for four succeeding years, and gave very 
general satisfaction. The last time that he appeared in 
Congress was on the 29th of October, 1779. After this 
date, an indisposition, under which he had labored for 
34 



398 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

some time, confined him to his chamber, and at length, on 
the 10th of November, terminated his life, in the fiftieth 
year of his age. His funeral was numerously attended, 
and, in testimony of their respect to his memory, Congress 
resolved to wear crape round the left arm for the space of 
one month. Mr. Hewes left a large fortune, but no chil- 
dren to inherit it. 



THOMAS HEYWARD. 

Thomas Heyward was born in St. Luke's parish, in 
South Carolina, in the year 1746. His father was a 
planter of fortune, and young Heyward received the best 
education that the province could afford. Having finished 
his scholastic studies, he entered upon those of the law,, 
and, after the usual term of application, was sent to Eng- 
land to complete himself in his profession. He was en- 
rolled as a student in one of the Inns of Court, and devo- 
ted himself with great ardor to the acquirement of legal 
knowledge. 

On completing his studies in England, he commenced 
the tour of Europe, which occupied him several years. 
After enjoying the advantages of foreign travel, he returned 
to his native country, and devoted himself, with great 
zeal for a man of fortune, to the labors of the law. In 
1775, Mr. Heyward was elected -to supply a vacancy in 
Congress, and arrived at Philadelphia in season to join 
in the discussion of the great question of independence. 
In 1778, he was prompted by a sense of duty to accept of 
an appointment as judge of the Criminal Court of the 
new government. Soon after his elevation to the bench, 
he was called upon to preside at the trial and condemna- 
tion of several persons charged with a treasonable corre- 
spondence with the enemy. The conviction of these indi- 
viduals was followed by their execution, which took place 
within view of the British army, to whom it rendered the 
judge particularly obnoxious. 

In the spring of 1780, the city of Charleston was taken 
possession of by General Clinton. Judge Heyward, at 
that time, had command of a battalion. On the reduction 
of the place, he became a prisoner of war, and was trans- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 399 

ported, with some others, to St. Augustine. During his 
absence, he suffered greatly in respect to his property. 
His plantation was much injured, and his slaves were 
seized and carried away. He at length had leave to re- 
turn to Philadelphia. On his passage thither, he nar- 
rowly escaped a watery grave. By some accident he fell 
overboard ; but, fortunately, he kept himself from sink- 
ing, by holding to the rudder of the ship, until assistance 
could be rendered him. On his return to Carolina, he re- 
sumed his judicial duties, in the exercise of which he con- 
tinued till 1798. He was a member of the Convention for 
forming the state constitution, in 1790, and was conspic- 
uous for his sound judgment and unchanging patriotism. 
Having retired from the most arduous of his public labors 
and cares, he died in March, 1809, in the sixty-fourth year 
of his age. Mr. Heyward was twice married, and was 
the father of several children. He was estimable for his 
amiable disposition, his virtuous principles, and his exten- 
sive acquaintance with men and things. 



WILLIAM HOOPER. 

William Hooper was born in Boston, on the 17th of 
June, 1742. He entered Harvard University at the age 
of fifteen, and was graduated in 1760. His father, who 
was pastor of Trinity Church, in Boston, had destined his 
son for the ministerial profession ; but. the latter having 
an inclination for the law, he was placed in the office of 
the celebrated James Otis, to pursue the study of his 
choice. On being qualified for the bar, young Hooper 
removed to North Carolina, and, having married, finally 
established himself in the practice of his profession at 
Wilmington. 

He was soon placed, by his talents, among the foremost 
advocates of the province, and was chosen to represent 
the town of Wilmington, in the General Assembly. He 
was elected to a seat in the same body the following year, 
and was always one of the boldest opposers of the tyran- 
nical encroachments of the British government. In 1774, 
Mr. Hooper was chosen a delegate to the memorable 
Congress which met at Philadelphia. He took an im- 



400 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

portant share in the discussions of this assembly, and was 
remarkable for his fluent and animated elocution. He 
was a member of the same body the following year, and, 
during the session, drew up, as chairman of different 
committees, several able addresses and reports. In 1776, 
the private affairs of Mr. Hooper requiring his attention 
in North Carolina, he did not, for some time, attend upon 
the sitting of Congress. He returned, however, in season 
to share in the honor and danger of signing the imperisha- 
ble instrument which declared the colonies of North Amer- 
ica free and independent. Having been elected to Congress 
a third time, Mr. Hooper was obliged to resign his seat in 
February, 1777, and return to the adjustment of his own 
embarrassed affairs. 

In 1786, he was appointed, by Congress, one of the 
judges of a federal court, formed for the purpose of set- 
tling a controversy which existed between the states of 
New York and Massachusetts, in regard to certain lands. 
In the following year, his health being considerably im- 
paired, he sought to restore it by private retirement. 
This, however, he did not live long to enjoy. He died 
in October, 1790, at the age of forty-eight years, leaving 
a wife and three children. Mr. Hooper was distinguished 
for his conversational powers, his good taste, and his de- 
votion to his profession. As a politician, he was constant, 
judicious, and enthusiastic. He never gave way to de- 
spondency, possessing an unshaken confidence that Heav- 
en would defend trie right. 



STEPHEN HOPKINS. 

Stephen Hopkins was born near Providence, R. I., 
in a place now called Scituate, on the 7th of March, 1707. 
He was of respectable parentage, being a descendant of 
Benedict Arnold, the first governor of Rhode Island. 
His early education was limited ; but he is said to have 
excelled in penmanship, and in the practical branches of 
mathematics. 

For several years he followed the profession of a farm- 
er. He was afterwards chosen town clerk of Scituate, 
and a representative to the General Assembly. He was 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 401 

subsequently appointed a justice of the peace, and a jus- 
tice of one of the Courts of Common Pleas. In 1733, he 
became chief justice of that court. In 1742, he removed 
to Providence, where he entered into commerce, and was 
extensively engaged in building and fitting out vessels. 
He was chosen a representative from that town to the Gen- 
eral Assembly, and became speaker of the House of Rep- 
resentatives. In 1751, he was made chief justice of the 
Superior Court, and held that office till the year 1754, 
when he was appointed a commissioner to the celebrated 
Albany Convention. The object of this Convention was 
the securing of the friendship of the five great Indian na- 
tions, in the approaching French war, and a union between 
the several colonies of America. 

In 1756, Mr. Hopkins was elected chief magistrate of 
the colony of Rhode Island. This office he continued to 
hold, almost without intermission, until 1767, discharging 
its duties in an efficient and highly satisfactory manner. 
He resolutely espoused the cause of the colonies, and, in 
a pamphlet, entitled "The Rights of Colonies examined," 
proved the injustice of the stamp act, and other meas- 
ures of the British ministry. In 1774, Mr. Hopkins re- 
ceived the appointment of delegate from Rhode Island to 
the Continental Congress. In this assembly he took his 
seat on the first day of the session, and became one of the 
most zealous advocates of the measures adopted by that 
illustrious body of men. In the years 1775 and 1776, he 
again represented Rhode Island in Congress. In this 
latter year, he affixed his name to the Declaration of In- 
dependence. His signature was the only one upon the 
roll which gave indications of a trembling hand ; but it 
was not the tremulousness of fear. Mr. Hopkins had for 
some time been afflicted with a paralytic affection, which 
compelled him, when he wrote, to guide his right hand 
with his left. 

In 1778, Mr. Hopkins was a delegate to Congress for 
the last time ; but for several years afterwards, he was a 
member of the General Assembly of Rhode Island. He 
closed his useful and honorable life on the 13th of July, 
1785, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. Mr. Hopkins 
was enabled, by the vigor of his understanding, to surmount 
34* 



40>i THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

his early deficiencies, and rise to the most distinguished 
offices in the gift of his fellow-citizens, He possessed 
considerable fondness for literature, and greatly excelled 
as a mathematician. He was an unshaken friend of his 
country, and an enemy to civil and religious intolerance, 
distinguished for his liberality, and for the correct and 
honorable discharge of his various duties. 



FRANCIS HOPKINSON. 

Francis Hopkinson was born in Philadelphia, in the 
year 1737. His father was an Englishman, who, a short 
time previous to his emigration to America, married a 
niece of the bishop of Worcester. He was a man of a 
cultivated mind and considerable literary accomplishments, 
and became intimate with Benjamin Franklin, by whom 
he was held in high estimation. Upon the death of Mr. 
Hopkinson, which occurred while he was in the prime of 
life, the care of his family devolved upon his widow, who 
was eminently qualified for the task. She was a woman 
of superior mind ; and, discovering early indications of 
talent in her son, she resolved to make every sacrifice to 
furnish him with a good education. She placed him at the 
College of Philadelphia, and lived to see him graduate with 
reputation, and attain a high eminence at the bar. 

In 1766, Francis Hopkinson embarked for England, 
and received, upon the occasion, a public expression of 
respect and affection from the board of trustees of the 
College of Philadelphia. After a residence of more than 
two years in the land of his forefathers, he returned to 
America. He soon after married Miss Borden, of Bor- 
dentown, in New Jersey, where he took up his residence, 
and was appointed collector of the customs and executive 
counsellor. These offices he did not long enjoy, having 
sacrificed them to his attachment to the liberties of his 
country. He enlisted himself warmly in the cause of the 
people, and in 1776 was appointed a delegate from New 
Jersey to the Continental Congress. He voted for the 
declaration of independence, and affixed his signature to 
the engrossed copy of that instrument. In 1779, he was 
appointed judge of the Admiralty Court of Pennsylvania, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 403 

and for ten years continued to discharge with fidelity the 
duties of that office. 

Soon after the adoption of the federal constitution, 
Mr. Hopkinson received from Washington the appoint- 
ment of judge of the United States for the district of 
Pennsylvania. In this station, he conscientiously avoided 
mingling in party politics. His life was suddenly termi- 
nated, while in the midst of his usefulness, on the 8th of 
May, 1791. He died of an apoplectic fit, which, in two 
hours after the attack, put a period to his existence. 

Mr. Hopkinson was endued with considerable powers 
of humor and satire, which he employed effectually in 
rousing the feelings of the people, during the war of the 
revolution. He was the author of several fugitive pieces, 
which were very popular in their day. His well-known 
ballad, called "The Battle of the Kegs," gives evidence 
of a rich and exhaustless fund of humor, and will probably 
last the wear of centuries. He excelled in music, and had 
some knowledge of painting. His library was extensive, 
and his stock of knowledge constantly accumulating. In 
stature, Mr. Hopkinson was below the common size. His 
countenance was animated, his speech fluent, and his 
motions were unusually rapid, Few men were kinder in 
their dispositions, or more benevolent in their lives. He 
left, at his decease, a widow and five children. The eldest 
of these, Joseph Hopkinson, occupies an eminent rank 
among: the advocates of the American bar. 



SAMUEL HUNTINGTON. 

Samuel Huntington was born in Windham, Connecti- 
cut, on the 2d of July, 1732. Being the eldest son, his 
father required his assistance on the farm, and his oppor- 
tunities for study were accordingly brief and extremely 
rare. He possessed, however, a vigorous understanding, 
and supplied his deficiencies of instruction by an assiduous 
and a persevering devotion to the acquisition of knowledge. 
At the age of twenty-one years, he was probably equal, in 
point of literary attainments, to most of those who had re- 
ceived a collegiate education. 

Conceiving a fondness for legal pursuits', he abandoned 



404 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

his occupation of husbandry, and resolved to enter alone 
and unaided upon the study of the law. He soon obtained 
a competent knowledge of the principles of the profession, 
to commence the practice of an attorney in his native 
town ; but in 1780, he removed to Norwich, where a wider 
field presented itself for the exercise of his talents. Here 
he soon became distinguished for his ability, his integrity, 
and his strict attention to business. In 1764, Mr. Hunt- 
ington represented the town of Norwich in the General 
Assembly, and the following year was appointed to the 
office of king's attorney. In 1774, he became an associ- 
ate judge in the Superior Court, and soon after an assistant 
in the Council of Connecticut. 

His talents and patriotism recommending him to public 
confidence, he was elected, in 1775, a delegate to the Con- 
tinental Congress. In the subsequent July, he voted in 
favor of the declaration of independence. Mr. Hunting- 
ton continued a member of Congress until the year 1781, 
when ill health induced him to resign. On the departure 
of Mr. Jay, as minister to Spain, he had been appointed to 
the presidency of the Congress, and had served in that, 
honorable station with distinguished ability and dignity. 
(n testimony of their approbation of his conduct in the 
chair, and in the execution of public business, Congress, 
soon after his retirement, accorded to Mr. Huntington the 
expression of their public thanks. On his return to his 
native state, he resumed his judicial functions, and in 1782 
was reelected to Congress. He did not attend, however, 
till the following year, when he resumed his seat. He con- 
tinued a conspicuous member until November, at which 
time he finally retired from the national assembly. 

Soon after his return to Connecticut, he was placed at 
the head of the Superior Court, and the following year 
was chosen lieutenant-governor of the state. In 1786, he 
succeeded Governor Griswold in the office of chief magis- 
trate, and was annually reelected to that station during the 
remainder of his life. His death took place on the 5th of 
January, 1796, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. Mr. 
Huntington was a sincere Christian, and few men possessed 
a greater share of mildness and equanimity of temper. 
He rose from the humble situation of a ploughboy by his 



ULOGRAPHICAL. SKETCHES. 405 

own industry and perseverance, and without the advantage 
of family patronage or influence. He married in the 
thirtieth year of his age ; but, having no children, he 
adopted a son and daughter of his brother, the Rev. 
Joseph Huntington. 



FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE. 

Francis Lightfoot Lee was born in Virginia, in 1734. 
He was the fourth son of Thomas Lee, who for several 
years held the office of president of the king's council. 

Francis Lightfoot did not receive the advantage, enjoyed 
by his elder brothers, of an education at the English uni- 
versities. He was placed, however, under the care of an 
accomplished domestic tutor of the name of Craig, and 
acquired an early fondness for literature. He became well 
versed in the most important branches of science, and 
probably obtained as good an education as the country 
could then afford. The fortune bequeathed him by his 
father rendered the study of a profession unnecessary, and 
he accordingly surrendered himself, for several years, to 
the enjoyment of literary ease and social intercourse. He 
possessed, however, an active mind, and warmly interested 
himself in the advancement of his country. In 1765, he 
was returned a member of the House of Burgesses from the 
county of Loudon, where his estate was situated. He was 
annually reelected to this office until 1772, when, having 
married a lady of Richmond county, he removed thither, 
and was soon after chosen by the citizens of that place to 
the same station. 

In 1775, Mr. Lee was appointed by the Virginia Con- 
vention a delegate to the Continental Congress. He took 
his seat in this assembly, and, though he seldom engaged 
in the public discussions, was surpassed by none in his 
zeal to forward the interests of the colonies. His brother, 
Richard Henry Lee, had the high honor of bringing for- 
ward the momentous question of independence ; but no 
one was, perhaps, a warmer friend of the measure than 
Francis Lightfoot. 

Mr. Lee retired from Congress in 1779. He was fondly 
attached to the pleasures of home, and eagerly sought an 



406 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

opportunity when his services were not essentially needed 
by his country, to resume the undisturbed quiet of his 
former life. He was not long permitted to enjoy his 
seclusion. He reluctantly obeyed the summons of his 
fellow-citizens to represent them once more in the legis- 
lature of Virginia. His duties were most faithfully dis- 
charged while a member of this body ; but he soon became 
weary of the bustle and vexations of public life, and relin- 
quished them for the pleasures of retirement. In the 
latter period of his life, he found an unfailing source of 
happiness to himself, in contributing largely to the enjoy- 
ment of others. His benevolence and the urbanity of his 
manners rendered him beloved by all. He was a practical 
friend to the poor, and a companion to the young or the 
aged, the light-hearted or the broken in spirit. Having no 
children, he devoted his time chiefly to reading, farming, 
and company. His death was occasioned by a pleurisy, 
which disease also terminated the life of his wife a few 
days after his own departure. He died in the consoling 
belief of the gospel, and in peace with all mankind and 
his own conscience. 

The brothers of Mr. Lee were all eminently distin- 
guished for their talents and for their services to their 
country — Philip Ludwell, a member of the king's Coun- 
cil ; Thomas Ludwell, a member of the Virginia As- 
sembly ; Richard Henry, as the champion of American 
freedom ; William, as a sheriff and alderman of London, 
and afterwards a commissioner of the Continental Con- 
gress at the courts of Berlin and Vienna ; and Arthur, as 
a scholar, a politician, and diplomatist. 



RICHARD HENRY LEE. 
Richard Henry Lee, a brother of the foregoing, was 
born at Stratford, Westmoreland county, Virginia, on the 
20th of January, 1732. He received his education in 
England, where his acquisitions were considerable in 
scientific and classical knowledge. He returned to his na- 
tive country when in his nineteenth year, and devoted him- 
self to the general study of history, politics, law, and polite 
literature, without engaging in any particular profession. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 407 

About the year 1 757, he was chosen a delegate to the 
House of Burgesses, where a natural diffidence for some 
time prevented him from displaying the full extent of his 
powers and resources. This impediment, however, was 
gradually removed, and he rapidly rose into notice as a 
persuasive and eloquent speaker. In 1764, he was ap- 
pointed to draught an address to the king, and a me- 
morial to the House of Lords, which are among the best 
state papers of the period. Some years afterwards, he 
brought forward his celebrated plan for the formation of 
a committee of correspondence, whose object was " to 
watch the conduct of the British Parliament; to spread 
more widely correct information on topics connected with 
the interests of the colonies, and to form a chosen union 
of the men of influence in each." This plan was origi- 
nated about the same time in Massachusetts, by Samuel 
Adams. 

The efforts of Mr. Lee in resisting the various en- 
croachments of the British government were indefatigable, 
and in 1774 he attended the first General Congress at 
Philadelphia, as a delegate from Virginia. He was a 
member of most of the important committees of this body, 
and labored with unceasing vigilance and energy. The 
memorial of Congress to the people of British America, 
and the second address of Congress to the people of Great 
Britain, were both from his pen. The following year, he 
was again deputed to represent Virginia in the same as- 
sembly, and his exertions were equally zealous and suc- 
cessful. Among other responsible duties, he was ap- 
pointed, as chairman of a committee, to furnish General 
Washington, who had been summoned to the command 
of the American armies, with his commission and in- 
structions. 

On the 7th of June, 1776, Mr. Lee introduced the 
measure which declared, " That these united colonies 
are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states ; 
that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British 
crown ; and that all political connection between them 
and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally 
dissolved." This important motion he supported by a 



408 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

speech of the most brilliant eloquence. " Why, then, sir," 
said he, in conclusion, " why do we longer delay ? Why 
still deliberate ? Let this happy day give birth to an 
American republic. Let her arise, not to devastate and 
to conquer, but to reestablish the reign of peace and of 
law. The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us ; she de- 
mands of us a living example of freedom, that may ex- 
hibit a contrast in the felicity of the citizen to the ever- 
increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. 
She invites us to prepare an asylum, where the unhappy 
may find solace, and the persecuted repose. She invites 
us to cultivate a propitious soil, where that generous plant 
which first sprung up and grew in England, but is now 
withered by the poisonous blasts of Scottish tyranny, may 
revive and flourish, sheltering under its salubrious and 
interminable shade all the unfortunate of the human race. 
If we are not this day wanting in our duty, the names of 
the American legislators of 1776 will be placed by pos- 
terity at the side of Theseus, Lycurgus, and Romulus, of 
the three Williams of Nassau, and of all those whose 
memory has been, and ever will be, dear to virtuous men 
and good citizens." 

The debate on the above motion of Mr. Lee was pro- 
tracted until the tenth of June, when Congress resolved, 
" That the consideration of the resolution respecting in- 
dependence be postponed till the first Monday in July 
next ; and in the mean while, that no time may be lost, 
in case the Congress agree thereto, that a committee be 
appointed to prepare a declaration to the effect of the said 
resolution." 

As the mover of the original resolution for inde- 
pendence, it would, according to parliamentary usage, 
have devolved upon Mr. Lee to have been appointed chair- 
man of the committee selected to prepare a declaration, 
and, as chairman, to have furnished that important doc- 
ument. But on the day on which the resolution was taken, 
Mr. Lee was unexpectedly summoned to attend upon his 
family in Virginia, some of the members of which were 
dangerously ill ; and Mr. Jefferson was appointed chair- 
man in his place. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 409 

Mr. Lee continued to hold a seat in Congress till June, 
1777, when he solicited leave of absence on account of 
the delicate state of his health. In August of the next 
year, he was again elected to Congress, and continued in 
that body till 1780, when he declined a reelection, be- 
lieving that he would be more useful to his native state 
by holding a seat in her Assembly. In 1784, however, 
he again accepted an appointment as representative to 
Congress, of which body he was unanimously elected 
president. In this exalted station he presided with great 
ability ; and on his retirement, received the acknowl- 
edgments of Congress. 

Mr. Lee was opposed to the adoption of the federal 
constitution, without amendment. Its tendency, he be- 
lieved, was to consolidation. To guard against this, it 
was his wish that the respective states should impart to 
the Federal Head only so much power as was necessary 
for mutual safety and happiness. He was appointed a 
senator from Virginia, under the new constitution. 

About the year 1792, Mr. Lee was compelled, by his 
bodily debility and infirmities, to retire wholly from public 
business. Not long after, he had the pleasure of receiv- 
ing, from the legislature of his native state, a unanimous 
vote of thinks for his public services, and of sympathy 
for the impaired condition of his health. He died on the 
19th of June, 1794, at the age of sixty-three years. 

In private life, Mr. Lee was the delight of all who knew 
him. He had a numerous family of children, the offspring 
of two marriages, who were tenderly devoted to their 
father. As an orator, he exercised an uncommon sway 
over the minds of men. His gesture was graceful and 
highly finished, and his language perfectly chaste. He 
reasoned well, and declaimed freely and splendidly ; and 
such was his promptitude, that he required no preparation 
for debate. He was well acquainted with classical litera- 
ture, and possessed a rich store of political knowledge. 
Few men have passed through life in a more honorable 
and brilliant manner, or left behind them a more desirable 
reputation, than Richard Henry Lee. 
35 



410 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

FRANCIS LEWIS. 

Francis Lewis was a native of Landaff, in South 
Wales, where he was born in the year 1713. Being left 
an orphan at the age of four or five years, the care of him 
devolved upon a maiden aunt, who took singular pains to 
instruct him in the native language of his country. He 
was afterwards sent to Scotland, where, in the family of 
a relation, he acquired a knowledge of the Gaelic. From 
this he was transferred to the school of Westminster, 
where he completed his education, and enjoyed the repu- 
tation of being a good classical scholar. 

Having determined on the pursuit of commerce, he en- 
tered the counting-room of a London merchant, and in a 
few years acquired a competent knowledge of his pro- 
fession. On attaining the age of twenty-one years, he 
converted the whole of his property into merchandise, and 
sailed for New York, where he arrived in the spring of 
1735. Leaving a part of his goods to be disposed of by 
Mr. Edward Annesly, with whom he had formed a com- 
mercial connection, he transported the remainder to Phila- 
delphia. After a residence of two years in the latter city, 
he returned to New York, and there became extensively 
engaged in navigation and foreign trade. He married the 
sister of his partner, by whom he had several children. 

Mr. Lewis acquired the character of an active and en- 
terprising merchant. In the course of his commercial 
transactions, he visited several of the seaports of Russia, 
the Orkney and Shetland Islands, and was twice ship- 
wrecked on the Irish coast. 

During the French or Canadian war, he was agent for 
supplying the British troops, and was present, in 1756, at 
the surrender of Fort Oswego to the French general, De 
Montcalm. He exhibited great firmness and ability on 
the occasion ; and his services were held in such con- 
sideration by the British government, that, at the close 
of the war, he received a grant of five thousand acres 
of land. 

The conditions upon which the garrison at Fort Oswego 
surrendered, were shamefully violated by De Montcalm. 
He allowed the chief warrior of the Indians, who assisted 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 411 

in taking the fort, to select about thirty of the prisoners, 
and to do with them as he pleased. Of this number Mr. 
Lewis was one. Thus placed at the disposal of savage 
power, a speedy death was one of the least evils to be 
expected. It has been asserted, however, that Mr. Lewis 
discovered that he was able to converse with the Indians, 
by reason of the similarity of the ancient language of 
Wales, which he understood, to their dialect.* His abil- 
ity to communicate by words to the chief, so pleased the 
latter, that he treated him kindly, and, on arriving at Mont- 
real, requested the French governor to allow him to return 
to his family without ransom. The request, however, was 
not granted, and Mr. Lewis was sent as a prisoner to 
France, from which country, being some time after ex- 
changed, he returned to America. 

Although Mr. Lewis was not a native of America, yet 
his attachment to the country was early and devoted. He 
vigorously opposed the oppressive measures of Great Brit- 
ain, and esteemed liberty the choicest blessing that a 
nation can enjoy. His intellectual powers, and uniform 
nobility of sentiment, commanded the respect of the peo- 
ple; and, in 1775, he was unanimously elected a delegate 
to Congress. He remained a member of that body 
through the following year, 1776, and was among the 
number who signed the Declaration of Independence. 
For several subsequent years, he was appointed to rep- 
resent New York in the national assembly, and per- 
formed various secret and important services, with great 
fidelity and prudence. 

In 1775, Mr. Lewis removed his family and effects to 
a country-seat which he owned on Long Island. This 
proved an unfortunate step. In the autumn of the follow- 
ing year, his house was plundered by a party of British 
light horse. His extensive library and valuable papers 
were wantonly destroyed. His wife fell into the power of 
the enemy, and was retained a prisoner for several months. 
During her captivity, she experienced the most atrocious 

* It is almost needless to remark, that such an occurrence is, to 
say the best of it, extremely improbable. There exists no affinity 
between the ancient language of Wales and that of any of the 
Indian tribes known in North America. 



412 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

treatment, being closely confined, and deprived of a bed 
and sufficient clothing. By the influence of Washington, 
she was at length released ; but her constitution had been 
so impaired by her sufferings, that, in a year or two, she 
sank into the grave. 

The latter days of Mr. Lewis were spent in comparative 
poverty. He died on the 30th day of December, 1803, in 
the ninetieth year of his age. 



PHILIP LIVINGSTON. 

Philip Livingston was born at Albany, on the 15th of 
January, 1716. He was the fourth son of Gilbert Liv- 
ingston, and his ancestors were highly respectable, holding 
a distinguished rank in New York, and possessing a beau- 
tiful tract of land on the banks of the Hudson. This tract, 
since known as the Manor of Livingston, has belonged to 
the family from that time to the present. 

Philip Livingston received his education at Yale College, 
where he was graduated in 1737. He soon after engaged 
extensively in commerce in the city of New York, and 
was very successful in his transactions. In 1754, he was 
elected an alderman, and continued in the office for nine 
successive years. In 1759, he was returned a member to 
the General Assembly of the colony, where his talents and 
influence were most usefully employed. His views were 
liberal and enlightened, and he did much to improve the 
commercial and agricultural facilities of the country. 

Previous to the revolution, it was usual for the respec- 
tive colonies to have an agent in England, to manage their 
individual concerns with the British government. This 
agent was appointed by the popular branch of the Assem- 
bly. In 1770, the agent of the colony of New York dying, 
the celebrated Edmund Burke was chosen in his stead, and 
received for the office a salary of five hundred pounds. 
Between this gentleman and a committee of the Colonial 
Assembly, a correspondence was maintained ; and upon 
their representations the agent depended for a knowledge 
of the state of the colony. Of this committee Mr. Liv- 
ingston was a member. From his communications and 
those of his colleagues Mr. Burke doubtless obtained that 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 413 

information of the state of the colonies, which he some- 
times brought forward to the perfect surprise of the House 
of Commons, and upon which he often founded arguments, 
and proposed measures, which were not to be resisted. 

Mr. Livingston regarded with patriotic indignation the 
measures by which the British ministry thought to humble 
the spirit of the colonies. His avowed sentiments, and the 
prominent part he had always taken in favor of the rights of 
the colonies, caused him to be elected, in 1774, a delegate 
to the Continental Congress. He was also a member of 
the distinguished Congress of 1776, and was among those 
whose names are enduringly recorded on the great charter 
of their country's freedom and national existence. He was 
reelected to the same assembly the following year, and was 
also chosen a senator to the state legislature, after the adop- 
tion of a new constitution. He again took his seat in Con- 
gress, in May, 1778; but his health was shockingly im- 
paired, and such was the nature of his disease, which was 
a dropsy in the chest, that no rational prospect existed of 
his recovery. Before his departure from Albany, he took 
a final farewell of his family and friends, and expressed his 
conviction that he should not live to see them again. His 
anticipations proved true. From the period of his return 
to Congress, his decline was rapid; and he closed his 
valuable life on the 12th of June, 1778. Suitable demon- 
strations of respect to his memory were paid by Congress, 
and his funeral was publicly attended. 

Mr. Livingston married the daughter of Colonel Dirck 
Ten Broeck, by whom he had several children. His fam- 
ily has furnished many distinguished characters. Mr. Liv- 
ingston was amiable in his disposition, and a firm believer 
in the great truths of Christianity. He died respected and 
esteemed by all who knew him. 



THOMAS LYNCH. 
Thomas Lynch was born on the 5th of August, 1749, 
at Prince George's parish, in South Carolina. 

Before he had reached the age of thirteen years, young 
Lynch was sent to England for his education. Having 
passed some time at the institution of Eton, he was en- 
35* 



414 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

tered a member of the University of Cambridge, the de- 
grees of which college he received in due course. He 
left Cambridge with a high reputation for classical attain- 
ments and virtues of character, and entered his name 
at the Temple, with a view to the profession of law. 
After applying himself assiduously to the study of jurispru- 
dence, and enriching himself, both in mind and manners, 
with the numberless accomplishments of a gentleman, he 
returned to South Carolina, after an absence of eight or 
nine years. 

In 1775, on the raising of the first South Carolina regi- 
ment of provincial regulars, Mr. Lynch was appointed 
to the command of a company, Unfortunately, on his 
march to Charleston, at the head of his men, he was at- 
tacked by a violent fever, which greatly injured his consti- 
tution, and from the effects of which he never afterwards 
wholly recovered. He joined his regiment, but the en- 
feebled state of his health prevented him from performing 
the exertions which he considered incumbent upon him. 
Added to this, he received afflicting intelligence of the 
illness of his father, at Philadelphia, and resolved to make 
arrangements to depart for that city. Upon applying for a 
furlough, however, he was denied by the commanding of- 
ficer, Colonel Gadsden. But being opportunely elected 
to Congress, as the successor of his father, he was repaid 
for his disappointment, and lost no time in hastening to 
Philadelphia. 

The health of the ypunger Mr. Lynch, soon after join- 
ing Congress, began to decline with the most alarming ra- 
pidity. He continued, however, his attendance upon that 
body, until the Declaration of Independence had been 
voted, and his signature affixed to it. He then set out for 
Carolina, in company with his father ; but the life of the 
latter was terminated at Annapolis, by a second paralytic 
attack. 

Soon after this afflicting event, a change of climate was 
recommended to Mr. Lynch, as presenting the only chance 
of his recovery. He embarked, with his wife, on board a 
vessel proceeding to St. Eustatia, designing to proceed by 
a circuitous route to the south of France. From the time 
of their sailing, nothing more has been known of their fate. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 415 

Various rumors for a time were in circulation, which 
served to keep their friends in painful suspense ; but the 
conclusion finally adopted was, that the vessel must have 
foundered at sea, and the faithful pair been consigned to a 
watery grave. 



THOMAS M'KEAN. 

Thomas M'Kean was of Irish descent, and born in New 
London, Chester county, Pennsylvania, on the 19th of 
March, 1734. After completing the regular course of 
school instruction, he was entered as a student at law, in 
the office of David Finney, who resided in New Castle, in 
Delaware. Before he had attained the age of twenty-one 
years, he commenced the practice of the law, in the Courts 
of Common Pleas for the counties of New Castle, Kent, 
and Sussex, and also in the Supreme Court. In 1757, he 
was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court in Penn- 
sylvania, and was elected clerk of the House of Assembly. 

The political career of Mr. M'Kean commenced in 1762, 
at which time he was returned a member of the Assembly 
from the county of New Castle. This county he continued 
to represent in the same body for several successive years, 
although the last six years of that period he spent in 
Philadelphia. 

A Congress, usually called the Stamp Act Congress, 
assembled in New York in 1765, for the purpose of ob- 
taining a redress of the grievances under which the colo- 
nies then labored. Of this memorable body Mr. M'Kean 
was a member, along with James Otis, and other cele- 
brated men. 

A short time previous to the meeting of the Congress of 
1774, Mr. M'Kean took up his permanent residence in 
the city of Philadelphia. The people of the lower coun- 
ties on the Delaware were desirous that he should repre- 
sent them in that body, and he was accordingly elected as 
their delegate. On the 3d of September, he took his seat 
in Congress. From this time until the 1st of February, 
1783, a period of eight years and a half, he was annually 
chosen a member of the great national council. At the 



416 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

same time, Mr. M'Kean represented Delaware in Congress; 
he was president of it in 1781, and from July, 1777, was 
the chief justice of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. M'Kean was, from the first, decidedly in favor of 
the declaration of independence. He subscribed his 
name to the original instrument, but, by some mistake, 
it was omitted in the copy published in the journals of 
Congress. 

At the time Congress passed the declaration of inde- 
pendence, the situation of Washington and his army, in 
New Jersey, was extremely precarious. On the 5th of 
July, it was agreed, by several public committees in Phil- 
adelphia, to despatch all the associated militia of the state 
to the assistance of Washington. Mr. M'Kean was at 
this time colonel of a regiment of associated militia. A 
few days subsequent to the declaration of independence, 
he was on his way to Perth Amboy, in New Jersey, at the 
head of his battalion. 

The associate militia being at length discharged, Mr. 
M'Kean returned to Philadelphia, and was present in Con- 
gress on the 2d of August, when the engrossed copy of the 
Declaration of Independence was signed by the members, 
A few days after this, receiving intelligence of his being 
elected a member of the Convention in Delaware, assem- 
bled for the purpose of forming a constitution for that 
state, he departed for Dover. Although excessively fa- 
tigued on his arrival, at the request of a committee of 
gentlemen of the Convention, he retired to his room in the 
public inn, where he was employed the whole night in 
preparing a constitution for the future government of the 
state. This he did without the least assistance, and even 
without the aid of a book. At ten o'clock the next morn- 
ing, it was presented to the Convention, by whom it was 
unanimously adopted. 

In 1777, Mr. M'Kean was chosen president of the state 
of Delaware, and, during the same year, was appointed 
chief justice of Pennsylvania. The duties of the latter 
station he discharged with great dignity and impartiality 
for twenty-two years. At the time of accepting these of- 
fices, he was speaker of the House of Assembly, and mem- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 417 

ber of Congress. He was chosen president of Congress in 
1781 ; and his conduct in the chair was highly honorable 
and satisfactory. 

Mr. M'Kean was a delegate from Philadelphia, in 1787, 
to the Convention assembled to ratify the constitution of 
the United States. He was a principal leader in this as- 
sembly, and was an able and eloquent advocate for the 
adoption of the constitution ; declaring it to be, in his 
consideration, "the best the world had yet seen." 

In 1799, he was elected a governor of the state of 
Pennsylvania, and his administration continued for nine 
years. His course was ultimately beneficial to the state; 
but the numerous removals from office of his political op- 
ponents produced considerable excitement, and perhaps 
placed his character in an unamiable light. During the 
years 1807 and 1808, an attempt was made to impeach him 
of certain crimes and misdemeanors ; and an inquiry was 
instituted by the legislature into his official conduct. The 
result was an honorable acquittal from the charges alleged, 
and a total vindication of his character. 

In 1808, Mr. M'Kean retired from public life, having 
discharged the duties of a great variety of offices with 
much ability and reputation. He died on the 24th of 
June, 1817, in the eighty-third year of his age. 



ARTHUR MIDDLETON. 

Arthur Middleton was born in the year 1743, in 
South Carolina, near the banks of the Ashley. At the age 
of twelve years, he was sent to the school of Hackney, 
near London ; and two years afterwards was sent to the 
school of Westminster. Here he soon became a proficient 
in classical literature, and gained the reputation of being 
an excellent Greek scholar. After several years spent in 
obtaining his education, and in foreign travel, Mr. Middle- 
ton returned to South Carolina. 

Soon after his return, he married, and again embarked 
for Europe, accompanied by his wife. He possessed a 
great fondness for travelling, and during this tour visited 
many places in England, and the principal places of 
France and Spain. In 1773, Mr. Middleton again re- 



418 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

turned to America, and settled on the delightful banks of 
the Ashley. 

In the spring of 1775, Mr. Arthur Middleton was cho- 
sen one of a secret committee, who were authorized to 
place the colony in a state of defence; and in June, the 
Provincial Assembly of South Carolina appointed him a 
member of the council of safety. In the following year, 
he was chosen on a committee to prepare a constitution 
for the colony. Shortly afterwards, he was elected a del- 
egate from South Carolina to the Congress assembled at 
Philadelphia. Here he had an opportunity of inscribing 
his name on the great charter of American liberty. At 
the close of the year 1777, he resigned his seat, leaving 
behind a character for the purest patriotism and the most 
fearless decision. 

In 1778, Mr. Middleton was elected to the chair of 
governor of South Carolina, which office had been left 
vacant in consequence of the resignation of John Rut- 
ledge, who had refused his assent to the new constitution 
formed by the legislature. But, candidly avowing the 
same sentiments with the late governor, Mr. Middleton 
conscientiously refused to accept the appointment, under 
the constitution which had been adopted. The Assem- 
bly proceeded to another choice, and elected Mr. Lowndes 
to fill the vacancy, who gave his sanction to the new con- 
stitution. 

In the year 1779, many of the southern plantations 
were ravaged by the enemy, and that of Mr. Middleton 
did not escape. His valuable collection of paintings was 
much injured, but his family were fortunately absent from 
the place. On the surrender of Charleston, Mr. Middle- 
ton was taken prisoner, and, with several others, was sent 
by sea to St. Augustine, in East Florida, where he was 
kept in confinement for nearly a year. At length, in 
July, 1781, he was exchanged, and proceeded in a cartel 
to Philadelphia. On his arrival there, he was appointed 
a representative in Congress, to which office he was also 
elected the following year. 

In 1783, Mr. Middleton declined accepting a seat in 
Congress, but was afterwards occasionally a member of the 
state legislature. He died on the 1st of January, 1787. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 419 

LEWIS MORRIS. 

Lewis Morris was born at the manor of Morrisania, 
in the state of New York, in the year 1726. He was edu- 
cated at Yale College, of which institution he received 
the honors. On his return home, he devoted himself to 
agriculture. When the dissensions with the mother coun- 
try began, he was in a most fortunate condition ; with an 
ample estate, a fine family, an excellent constitution, liter- 
ary taste, and general occupations, of which he was fond. 
He renounced at once all these comforts and attractions, 
in order to -assert the rights of his country. He was elect- 
ed a delegate from New York to the Congress of IT 75, 
wherein he served on the most important committees. He 
was placed on a committee of which Washington was 
chairman, to devise means to supply the colonies with am- 
munition ; and was appointed to the arduous task of de- 
taching the western Indians from a coalition w r ith Great 
Britain. On this errand, he repaired to Pittsburg, and 
acted with great zeal and address. In the becnnnino- of 
1776, he resumed his seat in Congress, where he continued 
a laborious -and very useful member. 

W T hen the subject of independence began to be openly 
talked of among the people of America, in none of the 
colonies was a greater unwillingness to the measure be- 
trayed than among the inhabitants of New York. There 
were many, however, who were the determined opposers 
of all further attempts at compromise ; and among the 
latter was Mr. Morris. When he signed the Declaration 
of Independence, it was at the most obvious risk of his 
rich and beautiful estate, the dispersion of his family, and 
the ruin of his domestic enjoyments and hopes. He man- 
ifested on the occasion a degree of patriotism and disin- 
terestedness, which few had it in their power to display. 

It happened as was anticipated. The beautiful manor 
of Morrisania was laid waste by the hostile army ; and a 
tract of wood land of more than a thousand acres in extent 
was destroyed. Few men, during the revolution, were 
called to make greater sacrifices than Mr. Morris; and 
none could make them more cheerfully. 

He quitted Congress in 1777, and was afterwards a 



420 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

member of the state legislature, and a major-general of 
militia. His latter years were devoted to the pursuit of 
agriculture, his fondness for which was an amiable trait 
in his character. He died, very generally esteemed, on 
his paternal estate, in January, 1798, at the age of sev- 
enty-one years. 



ROBERT MORRIS. 

Robert Morris, the great financier of the American 
revolution, was born in Lancashire, England, January, 
1733-4, O. S., of respectable parentage. His father em- 
barked for America, and caused him to follow, at the age 
of thirteen. He received a respectable education, and, be- 
fore he reached his fifteenth year, was placed in the count- 
ing-house of Mr. Charles Willing, at that, time one of the 
first merchants at Philadelphia. His diligence and ca- 
pacity gained him the full confidence of Mr. Willing, after 
whose death he entered into partnership with his son, 
Thomas Willing, subsequently president of the Bank of 
the United States. This connection lasted from the year 
1754 until 1793, — a period of thirty-nine years. 

At the commencement of the American revolution, 
Mr. Morris was more extensively engaged in commerce 
than any other merchant of Philadelphia. He zealously 
opposed the encroachments of the British government on 
the liberties of the colonists, and embraced the popular 
cause, at the imminent sacrifice of his private interest and 
wealth. He declared himself immediately against the 
stamp act, signed, without hesitation, the non-importation 
agreement of 1765, and, in so doing, made a direct sacri- 
fice of trade. 

In 1775, Mr. Morris was elected, by the legislature of 
Pennsylvania, a delegate to the second General Congress. 
He was placed upon every committee of ways and means, 
and connected with all the deliberations and arrange- 
ments relative to the navy, maritime affairs, and financial 
interests. Besides aiding his country by his talents for 
business, his judgment, and his knowledge, he employed 
his extensive credit in obtaining loans, to a large amount, 
for the use of the government. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 421 

In May, 1777, he was elected a third time to Congress, 
and continued to be the chief director of the financial op- 
erations of the government. In 1780, he proposed the 
establishment of a bank, the chief object of which was, to 
supply the army with provisions. He headed the list 
with a subscription of ten thousand pounds ; and others 
followed to the amount of three hundred thousand pounds. 
The institution was established, and continued until the 
Bank of North America went into operation, in the fol- 
lowing year. 

In 1781, Mr. Morris was appointed, by Congress, su- 
perintendent of finance. The state of the treasury, when 
he was appointed to its superintendence, was as bad 
as possible. Abroad, the public credit was every moment 
in danger of annihilation. At home, the greatest public, 
as well as private, distress prevailed. The treasury was 
so much in arrears to the servants of the public offices, 
that many of them could not without payment perform 
their duties, but must have gone to jail for debts they had 
contracted to enable them to live. It was even asserted, 
by some of the members of the board of war, that they 
had not the means of sending an express to the army. 
But the wasted and prostrate skeleton of public credit 
sprung to life and action at the reviving touch of Robert 
Morris. The face of things was suddenly changed. 
Public and private credit was restored ; and it has been 
said, that " the Americans owe as much acknowledgment 
to the financial operations of Robert Morris, as to the 
negotiations of Benjamin Franklin, or even the arms of 
George Washington." 

The establishment of the Bank of North America was 
one of his first and most beneficial measures ; an institu- 
tion which he himself planned, and to forward which, he 
pledged his personal credit to an immense amount. 

In 1786, Mr. Morris was chosen to the Assembly of 
Pennsylvania; and the same year was elected a member 
of the Convention which framed the federal constitution. 
For the adoption of the present system, he was one of 
the most strenuous advocates. In 1788, the General As- 
sembly of Pennsylvania appointed him to represent the 
state in the first Senate of the United States, which as- 
36 



422 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



sembled in New York. He was a fluent and impressive 
speaker, and wrote with great ease and power. His 
conversation was replete with interest and instruction. 
When the federal government was organized, Washing- 
ton offered him the post of secretary of the treasury, 
which he declined ; and, being requested to designate a 
person for it, he named General Hamilton. At the con- 
clusion of the war, he was among the first who engaged 
in the East India and China trade. He was, also, the 
first who made an attempt to effect what is termed an out 
of season passage to China. 

In his latter days, Mr. Morris embarked in vast land 
speculations, which proved fatal to his fortune. The man 
who had so immensely contributed to our national exist- 
ence and independence, passed the closing years of his 
life in a prison — a beautiful commentary upon those laws 
which make no distinction between guilt and misfortune, 
and condemn the honest debtor to the punishment of the 
convicted felon ! He died on the 8th of May, 1806, in the 
seventy-third year of his age. 

Until the period of his impoverishment, the house of 
Mr. Morris was a scene of the most lavish hospitality. It 
was open, for nearly half a century, to all the respectable 
strangers who visited Philadelphia. He was active in the 
acquisition of money, but no one more freely parted with 
his gains. No one pursued a more enlightened policy, or 
manifested through life a greater degree of humanity, vir- 
tue, energy, and gentlemanly spirit, than Robert Morris. 



JOHN MORTON. 

John Morton was born in the county of Chester, (now 
Delaware,) in Pennsylvania. His ancestors were of 
Swedish extraction; and his father died a few months 
previous to his birth. 

About the year 1764, Mr. Morton was sent as a dele- 
gate to the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, of which 
he continued for several years an active and distinguished 
member. He was also appointed to attend the General 
Congress at New York. In 1766, he was made sheriff of 
the county in which he resided, and, shortly after, was ele- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 423 

vated to a seat on the bench, in the Superior Court of 
Pennsylvania. He was deputed to the Congress of 1774, 
and continued to represent Pennsylvania in that assem- 
bly through the memorable session of 1776. On the 
question of declaring independence, in the latter year, the 
delegation from Pennsylvania being divided, Mr. Morton 
gave his casting vote in the affirmative. This was an act 
of great intrepidity, under all the circumstances of the 
case, and placed upon him a fearful load of responsibility. 
But he did not hesitate to assume it. The enemies of the 
measure were exasperated at his conduct ; but on his 
death-bed, he desired his attendants to tell his revilers that 
the hour would come, when it would be acknowledged, 
that his vote in favor of American independence was the 
most illustrious act of his life. It is needless to observe 
how fully and comprehensively his prophetic aununciation 
has been fulfilled. 

In 1777, Mr. Morton assisted in organizing a system of 
confederation for the colonies, and was chairman of the 
committee of the whole, at the time when it was agreed to. 
During the same year, he was seized with an inflammatory 
fever, and died on the 15th of November, in the fifty-fourth 
year of his age. He left behind a character for piety, lib- 
erality, and patriotism, which his actions are sufficient to 
substantiate. 



THOMAS NELSON, Jun. 

Thomas Nelson was born at York, in Virginia, on the 
26th of December, 1738. At the age of fourteen, he was 
sent to England, and placed at a private school in the 
neighborhood of London. He was afterwards removed 
to the University of Cambridge, where he enjoyed the 
instruction of the eminent Doctor Porteus, subsequently 
Bishop of London. About the close of 1761, he returned 
to his native country, and, in the following year, married 
the daughter of Philip Grymes, Esq., of Brandon. His 
ample fortune enabled him to indulge his spirit of hospi- 
tality to its fullest extent, and to live in a style of unusual 
elegance. 

It is not determined with certainty at what period the 



424 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

political career of Mr. Nelson commenced. He was a 
member of the House of Burgesses in 1774, and during the 
same year was deputed to the first General Convention of 
the province, which met at Williamsburg on the 1st of Au- 
gust. The next year, he was again returned a member to 
the General Convention, and introduced a resolution for 
organizing a military force in the province. 

In July, 1775, Mr. Nelson was appointed a delegate 
from Virginia to the General Congress about to assemble 
at Philadelphia. He retained his seat in this body until 
1777. In May of that year, he was obliged to resign all 
serious occupation, in consequence of a disease in the 
head. When relieved from this malady, his energies were 
again called into action, and he was appointed brigadier- 
general and commander-in-chief of the forces of the com- 
monwealth. In this office, he rendered the most impor- 
tant service to his country, and in times of emergency 
often advanced money, to carry forward the military oper- 
ations. In 1779, he was again chosen to Congress ; but 
a close application to business produced a recurrence of 
his former complaint, and he was again compelled to re- 
turn home. 

Soon after his recovery, General Nelson entered with 
animation into several military expeditions against the 
British, who, at that time, were making the Southern 
States the chief theatre of war. It was owing to his 
measures that the army was kept together, until the cap- 
ture of Yorktown terminated the war. For this service, 
Governor Nelson had the pleasure of receiving the ac- 
knowledgments of Washington, who, in his general orders 
of the 20th of October, 1781, thus spoke of him : " The 
general would be guilty of the highest ingratitude, a crime 
of which he hopes he shall never be accused, if he forgot 
to return his sincere acknowledgments to his excellency, 
Governor Nelson, for the succors which he received from 
him, and the militia under his command, to whose activity, 
emulation, and bravery, the highest praises are due." 

A month subsequent to the surrender of Lord Corn- 
wallis, Governor Nelson resigned his station in conse- 
quence of ill health, and immediately afterwards was ac- 
cused by his enemies of having transcended his powers in 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 425 

acting without the consent of his council; but he was 
honorably acquitted by the legislature, before whom the 
charge was preferred. He died on the 4th of January, 
1789, just after he had completed his fiftieth year. 



WILLIAM PACA. 

William Paca was born on the 31st of October, 1740. 
He was the second son of John Paca, a gentleman of large 
estate, who resided in Hartford county, Maryland. After 
receiving his degree of bachelor of arts at the College of 
Philadelphia, in 1759, he studied law, and, when admitted 
to the bar, established himself at Annapolis. 

In 1771, Mr. Paca was chosen a representative of the 
county in the legislature. At this time, much contention 
existed between the proprietary government of Maryland 
and the people. Mr. Paca, who represented the people 
in this body, proved himself a stanch and determined 
assertor of their rights, which no one more clearly under- 
stood. He zealously opposed the avaricious proceedings 
of the proprietor and his partisans, and manifested on all 
occasions a settled hostility to tyranny and oppression. 

Mr. Paca was a delegate from Maryland to the Conti- 
nental Congress of 1774, and was reappointed to the 
same station until the year 1778, at the close of which he 
retired. He was an open advocate for a declaration of 
independence, as were several of his colleagues. A ma- 
jority of the people of Maryland, however, were not pre- 
pared for such a measure. A change was afterwards 
effected among the people in relation to this subject. The 
Convention of Maryland recalled their prohibitory instruc- 
tions to their delegates ; and Mr. Paca gladly received 
permission to vote according to the dictates of his own 
fearless and unshackled judgment. 

In 1778, Mr. Paca was appointed chief justice of the 
Supreme Court of Maryland, an office which he continued 
to exercise with great ability until 1780, when he was 
made, by Congress, chief judge of the Court of Appeals 
in prize and admiralty cases. In 1782, he was elected 
governor of his native state. He was distinguished for 
great correctness and integrity in the discharge of the 
36 * 



426 THF AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

duties of this station, and manifested a peculiar regard for 
the interests of religion and literature. At the close of 
the year, he retired to private life. In 1786, he again ac- 
cepted the executive chair, and continued in it for a year. 
On the organization of the federal government, in 1789, 
he received from Washington the appointment of judge 
of the District Court ^ c the United States for Maryland. 
This office he held until the year 1799, when he died, in 
the sixtieth year of his age. 



ROBERT TREAT PAINE. 

Robert Treat Paine was born in Boston, in 1731. 
At the age of fourteen years, he became a member of 
Harvard College, and, after leaving it, kept, for a period, 
a public school, the fortune of his father having been 
considerably reduced. With the view of obtaining more 
ample means for the maintenance of his parents, he also 
made a voyage to Europe. Before entering on the study 
of the law, he devoted some time to the subject of the- 
ology. In 1775, he acted as chaplain to the troops of the 
provinces at the northward, and afterwards preached occa- 
sionally in other places. At length, he applied himself 
earnestly to the study of the law. On being admitted to 
the bar, he established himself at Taunton, in the county 
of Bristol, where he resided for many years. In 1768, 
he was chosen a delegate from that town to the Con- 
vention called by the leading men of Boston, in conse- 
quence of the abrupt dissolution of the General Court, by 
Governor Bernard. 

In 1770, Mr. Paine was engaged in the celebrated trial 
of Captain Preston, and his men, for the part which they 
acted in the well-known Boston Massacre. On this oc- 
casion, in the absence of the attorney-general, he con- 
ducted the prosecution on the part of the crown. He 
managed the case with great credit and ability, and re- 
ceived from it a considerable degree of distinction. In 
1773, he was elected a representative to the General As- 
sembly from Taunton, and was afterwards chosen a mem- 
ber of the Continental Congress, which met at Phila- 
delphia. The following year he was reelected. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 427 

Of the Congress of 1776, Mr. Paine was also a member, 
and to the Declaration of Independence gave his vote and 
signed his name. . 

In 1780, Mr. Paine was sent to the Convention which 
met to deliberate respecting a constitution for the state 
of Massachusetts ; and of the committee which framed 
that instrument he was a conspicuous member. Under 
the government organized, he was appointed attorney- 
general, an office which he held until 1799, when he was 
transferred to a seat on the bench of the Supreme Ju- 
dicial Court. In this station he continued until his sev- 
enty-third year. His legal attainments were extensive ; 
and he discharged his judicial functions with the most 
rigid impartiality. Indeed, his strict fidelity sometimes 
gave him the reputation of unnecessary severity ; but the 
charge could only have proceeded from the lawless and 
licentious. His memory was uncommonly retentive ; and 
his conversation was marked by great brilliancy of wit 
and quickness of apprehension. If he sometimes indulged 
in raillery, he evinced no ill humor at being the subject 
of it in his turn. He was an excellent scholar, and to 
literary and religious institutions rendered important ser- 
vices. The death of Judge Paine occurred on the 1 1th 
of May, 1814 ; he having attained the age of eighty-four 
years. 

He was a founder of the American Academy, estab- 
lished in Massachusetts in 1780, and continued his ser- 
vices to it till his death. The degree of doctor of laws 
was conferred on him by Harvard College. 



JOHN PENN. 

John Penn was born in Caroline county, Virginia, on 
the 17th of May, 1741. His early education was greatly 
neglected ; and at his father's death, 1759, he became the 
sole manager of the fortune left him, which, though not 
large, was competent. 

At the age of twenty-one, he was licensed as a prac- 
titioner of law. He rose rapidly into notice, and was 
soon eminently distinguished as an advocate. 

In 1774, Mr. Penn moved to the province of North 



428 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

Carolina, where he attained as high a rank in his pro- 
fession as he had done in Virginia. The following year, 
he was chosen a delegate from North Carolina to the 
General Congress, in which body he took his seat on the 
12th of October. He was successively reelected to Con- 
gress, in the years 1777, 1778, and 1779, and was re- 
spected for his promptitude and fidelity in the discharge 
of the duties assigned him. He was seldom anient from 
his seat, and was a watchful guardian of the rights and 
liberties of his constituents. He was urgent in forwarding 
the measures which led to the total emancipation of the 
colonies. 

After the return of peace, Mr. Penn betook himself to 
private retirement. The even tenor of his way was 
marked by few prominent incidents after this period. 
He departed from this world, September, 1788, at the 
age of forty-six years. He had three children, two of 
whom died unmarried. 



GEORGE READ. 

George Read was born in Maryland, in the year 1734. 
Being designed by his parents for one of the learned pro- 
fessions, he was placed at a seminary at Chester, Penn- 
sylvania. Having there acquired the rudiments of the 
languages, he was transferred to the care of the accom- 
plished Dr. Allison, with whom he remained until his 
seventeenth year. He was then placed in the office of 
John Morland, Esq., a lawyer in the city of Philadelphia, 
for the purpose of fitting himself for the legal profession. 

In 1753, at the age of nineteen years, Mr. Read was 
admitted to the bar. In the year following, he com- 
menced the practice of the law, in the town of New 
Castle. In 1763, he was appointed attorney-general of 
the three lower counties on the Delaware. In the year 
1765, Mr. Read was elected a representative from New 
Castle county to the General Assembly of Delaware, a 
post which he occupied for twelve years. 

On the 1st of August, 1774, Mr. Read was chosen a 
delegate from Delaware to the Continental Congress. To 
this station he was annually reelected, during the whole 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 429 

revolutionary war. Mr. Read did not vote for the dec- 
laration of independence. But when, at length, the 
measure had received the sanction of the great national 
council, and the time arrived for signing the instrument, 
Mr. Read affixed his signature to it, with all the cor- 
diality of those who had voted in its favor. 

Mr. Read was president of the Convention which 
formed the first constitution of the state of Delaware. In 
1782, he accepted the appointment of judge of the Court 
of Appeals, in admiralty cases, an office which he held 
until the abolition of the court. In 1787, he represented 
the state of Delaware, in the Convention which framed 
the constitution of the United States, under which he 
was immediately chosen a member of the Senate. The 
duties of this exalted station he discharged till 1793, 
when he accepted of a seat on the bench of the Supreme 
Court of Delaware, as chief justice. He died in this 
office, in the autumn of 1798. 

The legal attainments of Mr. Read were extensive ; and 
his decisions are still respected as precedents of no slight 
authority. In private life he was esteemed for an ex- 
panded benevolence to all around him. 



CESAR RODNEY. 

Cesar Rodney was a native of Dover, in Delaware, 
where he was born about the year 1730. He inherited 
from his father a large landed estate. At the age of 
twenty-eight, he was appointed high sheriff in the county 
where he resided, and, on the expiration of his term of 
service, was created a justice of the peace and a judo-e 
of the lower courts. In 1762, and perhaps at an earlier 
date, he represented the county of Kent, in the provincial 
legislature. In the year 1765, he was sent to the first 
General Congress, which assembled at New York, to 
adopt the necessary measures for obtaining a repeal of 
the stamp act, and other odious measures of the British 
ministry. 

In 1769, Mr. Rodney was elected speaker of the House 
of Representatives, an office which he continued to fill for 
several years. About the same time, he was appointed 



430 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

chairman of the committee of correspondence with the 
other colonies. He was a member of the well-known 
Congress of 1774, when he had for his colleagues 
Thomas M'Kean and George Read. 

At the time that the question of independence came 
before Congress, Mr. Rodney was absent, on a tour of 
duty, in the southern part of Delaware. Mr. M'Kean 
and Mr. Read, his colleagues, were divided upon the 
subject. Aware of the importance of a unanimous vote, 
Mr. M'Kean despatched, at his private expense, an express 
into Delaware, to acquaint Mr. Rodney of the delicate 
posture of affairs, and to hasten his return to Philadelphia. 
With great exertion, he arrived on the spot just as the 
members were entering the door of the State-House, at 
the final discussion of the subject. 

In the autumn of 1776, a Convention was called in Del- 
aware, for the purpose of framing a new constitution, and 
of appointing delegates to the succeeding Congress. In 
this Convention, the influence of the royalists proved suffi- 
ciently strong to deprive Mr. Rodney of his seat in Con- 
gress. He remained, however, a member of the council 
of safety, and of the committee of inspection, in both of 
which offices he exerted himself with great diligence. In 
1777, he repaired in person to the camp near Princeton, 
where he remained for nearly two months, in the most 
active and laborious employment. During the same year, 
he was reappointed a delegate to Congress, but, before 
taking his seat, was elected president of the state. In 
the latter office he continued for about four years, at the 
close of which period he retired from public life. He was 
again elected to Congress, but it does not appear that he 
ever after took his seat in that body. A cancer, which 
had afflicted him for some time, and which had greatly 
disfigured his face, now increased its ravages, and, in the 
early part of the year 1783, brought him to the grave. 
Mr. Rodney was distinguished for a remarkable degree of 
good humor and vivacity, and, in generosity of character, 
was an ornament to human nature. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 431 

GEORGE ROSS. 

George Ross was born at New Castle, Delaware, in 
the year 1730. At the age of eighteen, he entered upon 
the study of the law, and, when admitted to the bar, estab- 
lished himself at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Here he mar- 
ried, and devoted himself with great zeal to the duties of 
his profession. 

Mr. Ross commenced his political career in 1768, when 
he was sent a representative to the Assembly of his adopt- 
ed state. Of this body he continued a member until the 
year 1774, when he was elected a delegate to the Conti- 
nental Congress. To this office he was annually re- 
elected till January, 1777, when he retired. The high 
sense entertained, by his constituents, of his public services 
and patriotism, was expressed, not merely by thanks, but 
by a present of one hundred and fifty pounds. This offer 
was respectfully but firmly declined. 

- Mr. Ross was an active and influential member of the 
provincial legislature. He was also a member of the 
Convention which assembled to prepare a declaration of 
rights on behalf of the state, and to define what should 
be considered high treason against it. In 1779, he was 
appointed a judge of the Court of Admiralty for the 
state of Pennsylvania. In July of the same year, he died 
of a sudden attack of the gout, in the fiftieth year of his 
age. He left behind him the reputation of a thorough 
and skilful lawyer, a consistent politician, and an esti- 
mable man. 



BENJAMIN RUSH. 

Benjamin Rush was born in Byberry, Pennsylvania, 
on the 24th of December, 1745. His father died when he 
was only six years of age, and the care of his education 
devolved upon his mother, whose prudent management of 
her son may be learned from the result. 

After completing his preparatory studies, he was en- 
tered, in 1759, a student in the College of Princeton. On 
leaving college, he commenced the study of medicine, 
under the superintendence of Dr. Redman, of Philadel- 



432 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

phia. In 1766, he went to Edinburgh, where he spent 
two years at the university in that city, and from which 
he received the degree of M. D., in 1768. The next 
winter after his graduation he passed in London, and, 
having visited France, he returned, in the autumn of the 
same year, to Philadelphia, and commenced the prac- 
tice of medicine. In 1769, he was elected professor of 
chemistry in the College of Philadelphia ; and was after- 
wards appointed professor of the institutes and practice 
of medicine, and of clinical practice, in the same uni- 
versity. 

In the year 1793, Philadelphia was visited by that hor- 
rible scourge, the yellow fever. For some time after its 
commencement, no successful system of management was 
resorted to. Dr. Rush afterwards met with a manuscript,, 
which contained an account of the yellow fever, as it pre- 
vailed in Virginia, in 1741, and which was given to him 
by Dr. Franklin, and had been written by Dr. Mitchell, o£ 
Virginia. In this manuscript, the efficacy of powerful 
evacuants was urged, even in cases of extreme debility. 
This plan Dr. Rush adopted, and imparted the prescrip- 
tion to the college of physicians. An immense accession 
of business was the consequence, and his mode of treat- 
ment was wonderfully successful. The following entry, 
dated September 10th, is found in his note-book : " Thank 
God, out of one hundred patients, whom I visited or pre- 
scribed for this day, I have lost none." 

Between the 8th and 15th of September, Dr. Rush 
visited and prescribed for a hundred and a hundred and 
twenty patients a day. In the short intervals of business, 
which he spent at his meals, his house was filled with 
patients, chiefly the poor, waiting for his gratuitous ad- 
vice. For many weeks he seldom ate without prescribing 
for many as he sat at table. While thus endangering his 
health and his life by excess of practice, Dr. Rush received 
repeated letters from his friends in the country, entreating 
him to leave the city. To one of these letters he replied, 
" that he had resolved to stick to his principles, his prac- 
tice, and his patients, to the last extremity." 

The incessant labors of Dr. Rush, during this awful 
visitation, nearly prostrated his constitution ; but he was 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 433 

finally so far restored as to resume the duties of his pro- 
fession. His mode of treatment was also called into 
question by many of his contemporaries, notwithstanding 
the success which had attended it. At length the preju- 
dices against him infected not only physicians, but a con- 
siderable part of the community. The public journals 
were enlisted against him, and in numerous pamphlets 
his system was attacked with great severity. He was 
even called a murderer, and was at length threatened to 
be prosecuted and expelled the city. 

Notwithstanding the great labors of Dr. Rush as a lec- 
turer and practitioner, he was a voluminous writer. His 
printed works consist of seven volumes, six of which 
treat of medical subjects, and the other is a collection of 
essays, literary, moral, and philosophical. He was a con- 
stant and indefatigable scholar. He extracted so largely 
from the magazine of information accumulated in the 
mind of Benjamin Franklin, that he once mentioned to a 
friend his intention of writing a book with the title of 
Frankliniana, in which he proposed to collect the frag- 
ments of wisdom, which he had treasured in his mem- 
ory, as they fell, in conversation, from the lips of that 
great man. 

Doctor Rush was a member of the celebrated Congress 
of 1776, which declared these states free and independ- 
ent. The impulse given to learning and science by this 
event he used to estimate of incalculable value. In 1777, 
he was appointed physician-general of the military hos- 
pital in the middle department. In 1787, he became a 
member of the Convention of Pennsylvania, for the adop- 
tion of the federal constitution. This instrument re- 
ceived his warmest approbation. For the last fourteen 
years of his life, he was treasurer for the United States' 
mint, by appointment of President Adams. 

Doctor Rush took a deep interest in the many private 
associations, for the advancement of human happiness, 
with which Pennsylvania abounds. He led the way in 
the establishment of the Philadelphia Dispensary, and was 
the principal agent in founding Dickinson College, in 
Carlisle. For some years he was president of the Society 
for the Abolition of Slavery, and also of the Philadelphia 
37 



434 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



Medical Society. He was the founder of the Philadelphia 
Bible Society, and vice-president of the American Philo- 
sophical Society. He was an honorary member of many 
of the literary institutions, both of this country and of Eu- 
rope. In 1805, he was honored by the king of Prussia 
with a medal, for his replies to certain questions on the 
yellow fever. On a similar account, he was presented 
with a gold medal, in 1S07, from the queen of Etruria; 
and in 1811, the emperor of Russia sent him a diamond 
ring, as a testimony of his respect for his medical char- 
acter. 

The pen of Doctor Rush was powerfully employed 
against some of the vices and habits of mankind. His 
" Inquiry into the Effects of Ardent Spirits upon the Hu- 
man Body and Mind," has been more read than any of his 
works. He was a brilliant and eloquent lecturer ; and he 
possessed in a high degree those talents which engage the 
heart. 

The life of Doctor Rush was terminated on the 19th of 
April, 1813, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. During 
his illness, which was but of few days' continuance, his 
house was beset by crowds of citizens, such was the gen- 
eral anxiety in respect to this excellent man. When at 
length he died, the news of his decease spread a deep gloom 
over the city, and expressions of profound sympathy were 
received from all parts of the country. 



EDWARD RUTLEDGE. 

Edward Rutledge was born in Charleston, South 
Carolina, November, 1749. After receiving a respecta- 
ble education in the learned languages, he commenced the 
study of the law with his elder brother, who, at that 
time, was becoming the most eminent advocate at the 
Charleston bar. 

When arrived at the age of twenty-one years, Edward 
Rutledge sailed for England, to complete his legal education. 
In 1773, he returned to his native country, and began the 
practice of his profession. He soon became distinguished 
for his quickness of apprehension, fluency of speech, and 
graceful delivery. The general estimation in which his 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 435 

talents were held, was evinced, in 1774, by his appointment 
to the General Congress as delegate from South Carolina. 
He was at this time but twenty-five years of age. 

In the Congress of 1776, Mr. Rutledge took a con- 
spicuous part in the discussions which preceded the dec- 
laration of independence. At a subsequent date, he was 
appointed, with Doctor Franklin and John Adams, a com- 
missioner to wait upon Lord Howe, who had requested 
Congress to appoint such a committee to enter with him 
into negotiations for peace. Mr. Rutledge was again 
elected to Congress in 1779 ; but, in consequence of ill 
health, he was unable to reach the seat of government, and 
returned home. In 1780, during the investment of Charles- 
ton by the British, he was taken prisoner by the enemy, and 
sent to St. Augustine, where he was detained nearly a year 
before he was exchanged. 

On the evacuation of Charleston by the British, he re- 
turned to the place of his nativity, and, for the space of 
seventeen years, was successfully engaged in the practice 
of his profession ; rendering, from time to time, important 
.services to the state, as a member of her legislature. In 
1798, he relinquished his station at the bar, and was elected 
chief magistrate of South Carolina. He continued to per- 
form the duties of this office until within a short time be- 
fore his death, which took place on the 23d day of January, 
1800. Military and other honors were paid to his mem- 
ory, and universal regret was expressed at his departure. 



ROGER SHERMAN. 

Roger Sherman was born in Newton, Massachusetts, 
on the 19th of April, 1721. He was early apprenticed to 
a shoemaker, and followed the business of one for some 
time after he was twenty-two years of age. The father of 
Roger Sherman died in 1741, leaving his family, which 
was quite numerous, dependent upon his son for support. 
He entered upon the task with great cheerfulness. To- 
wards his mother, whose life was protracted to a great age, 
he always manifested the tenderest affection, and assisted 
two of his younger brothers to qualify themselves for cler- 
gymen. 



436 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

An elder brother had established himself in New Mil- 
ford, Connecticut. In 1743, the family of Mr. Sherman 
removed to that place, and he again commenced business 
as a shoemaker ; but, not long after, he entered into part- 
nership with his brother, whose occupation was that of a 
country merchant. The mind of Roger Sherman was 
invincibly bent upon the acquisition of knowledge. The 
variety and extent of his attainments, even at this time, 
were almost incredible. He soon became known in the 
county of Litchfield, where he resided, as a man of supe- 
rior talents, and of unusual skill in the science of mathe- 
matics. At the early age of twenty-four, he was appointed 
to the office of county surveyor. At this time, he had also 
made no trifling advances in the science of astronomy. 
As early as 1748, he supplied the astronomical calculations 
for an almanac, published in New York, and continued to 
furnish them for several succeeding years. 

In 1749, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Hartwell, of 
Stoughton, in Massachusetts. After her decease, in 1760 ? 
he married Miss Rebecca Prescott, of Danvers, in the same 
state. By these wives he had fifteen children. 

In 1754, Mr. Sherman was admitted as an attorney to 
the bar. The circumstance which led to his study of the 
profession was merely accidental, and an accident which, 
in a mind less decided and persevering than that of Sher- 
man, would have passed away without improvement. He 
became rapidly distinguished as a counsellor, and, the year 
following his admission to the bar, was appointed a justice 
of the peace for New Milford, which town he also repre- 
sented in the Colonial Assembly. In 1759, he was ap- 
pointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the coun- 
ty of Litchfield, which office he held for two years. At the 
expiration of that time, he became a resident of New Ha- 
ven, of which town he was soon after appointed a justice 
of the peace, and often represented it in the Colonial As- 
sembly. In 1765, he was made a judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas, and about the same time was appointed 
treasurer of Yale College, which institution bestowed upon 
him the honorary degree of master of arts. 

In 1766, Mr. Sherman was elected a member of the Up- 
per House, in the General Assembly of Connecticut ; and 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 437 

during the same year he was appointed a judge of the 
Superior Court. He continued a member of the Upper 
House for nineteen years, until 1785, when, the two offices 
which he held being considered incompatible, he relin- 
quished his seat at the council board, preferring his station 
as a judge. The latter office he continued to exercise un- 
til 1789, when he resigned it on being chosen to Congress, 
under the federal constitution. 

Mr. Sherman was a delegate to the celebrated Congress 
of 1774, and continued uninterruptedly a member of that 
body until his death, in 1793. His services during his 
congressional career were many and important. He was 
employed on numerous committees, and was indefatigable 
in the investigation of complicated and difficult subjects. 
In 1776, he received the most flattering testimony of the 
high respect in which he was held, in being associated 
with Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, and Livingston, in the 
responsible duty of preparing the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. In the state where he resided, Mr. Sherman con- 
tinued to receive repeated demonstrations of the esteem 
with which his fellow-citizens regarded him. 

Under the new constitution, Mr. Sherman was elected 
a representative to Congress from the state of Connecti- 
cut. At the expiration of two years, a vacancy occurring 
in the Senate, he was elevated to a seat in that body. In 
this office he died, on the 23d of July, 1793, in the seventy- 
third year of his age. 

A predominant trait in the character of Roger Sherman 
was his practical wisdom. Although inferior to many in 
rapidity of genius, he was surpassed by none in clearness 
of apprehension, energy of mind, or honesty of action. A 
remark of Jefferson bears testimony to the strength and 
soundness of his intellect. " That is Sherman," said he 
to a friend, to whom he was pointing out the most re- 
markable men of Congress, " a man who never said a 
foolish thing in his life." Not less honorable to the in- 
tegrity of his character is the remark of Fisher Ames, who 
was wont to say, " If I am absent during the discussion 
of a subject, and consequently know not on which side to 
vote, I always look at Roger Sherman, for I am sure if I 
vote with him I shall vote right" 
37* 



438 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



JAMES SMITH. 

James Smith was born in Ireland, but at what period 
has not been ascertained. His father was a respectable 
farmer, who removed to America with a numerous family, 
and settled on the west side of the Susquehanna River. 

After being qualified for the profession of the law, Mr. 
Smith took up his residence, as a lawyer and surveyor, near 
the present town of Shippensburg; but he subsequently 
removed to the nourishing village of York, where he con- 
tinued the practice of his profession during the remain- 
der of his life. On the commencement of the difficulties 
with the mother country, he resolutely enlisted himself on 
the patriotic side, and became an uncompromising oppo- 
ser of the insulting aggressions of the British government. 
He was chosen a delegate to all the patriotic meetings of 
the province, and was always in favor of the most vigor- 
ous and decided measures. He was the first one who 
raised a volunteer corps in Pennsylvania, in opposition to 
the armies of Great Britain, and was elected captain, and 
afterwards colonel of a regiment. In January, 1775, he 
was a delegate to the Convention for the province of Penn- 
sylvania, and concurred in the spirited declarations of that 
assembly. 

In the month of July, a Convention was held in Phila- 
delphia, for the purpose of forming a new constitution for 
Pennsylvania. Of this body Mr. Smith was a member, 
and by it he was chosen a delegate to Congress. He con- 
tinued to represent his constituents for several years in the 
great national assembly, and was always active and ef- 
ficient in the discharge of his duties. On withdrawing 
from Congress, in November, 1788, he resumed his pro- 
fessional pursuits, which he continued to exercise until 
the year 1800, when he withdrew from the bar, having 
practised the law for about sixty years. He died in the 
year 1806. 

RICHARD STOCKTON. 

Richard Stockton was born near Princeton, New Jer- 
sey, on the 1st day of October, 1730, and received his 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 439 

education at the college in his native state, where he grad- 
uated at the age of eighteen. 

On leaving college, Mr. Stockton commenced the study 
of the law, and, on his admission to the bar, rose quickly 
to an enviable distinction. About the year 1767, he re- 
linquished his professional business for the purpose of 
visiting Great Britain. During his tour through the united 
countries, he was received with great attention. On visit- 
ing Edinburgh, he was complimented with a public dinner, 
by the authorities of that city, the freedom of which was 
unanimously conferred upon him. During his stay in 
Scotland, he was so fortunate as to induce the Reverend 
Dr. Witherspoon, of Paisley, to remove to America, and 
accept the presidency of New Jersey College. 

On his return to this country, Mr. Stockton stood high 
in the royal favor, and was appointed one of the royal 
judges of the province, and a member of the Executive 
Council. But on the commencement of the aggravating 
system of oppression by which the mother country hoped 
to humiliate the colonists, he separated himself from the 
royal Council, and joyfully concurred in all the liberal 
measures of the day. On the 21st of June, 1776, he was 
elected a delegate to the General Congress, then sitting in 
Philadelphia. Here he discharged, with fidelity and en- 
ergy, all the duties assigned him ; and, on the agitation of 
the great question of independence, he addressed the 
house in its behalf. 

On the 30th of November, Mr. Stockton was unfortu- 
nately taken prisoner by a party of refugee royalists. He 
was dragged from his bed at night, and carried to New 
York. Here he was treated with the utmost rigor and in- 
dignity. Congress remonstrated with General Howe in 
his behalf, and he was finally released from his captivity ; 
but the iron had entered his soul. His constitution had 
experienced an irreparable shock, and his ample fortune 
was completely reduced. He continued to languish for 
several years, and at length died, at his residence in 
Princeton, on the 23th of February, 1781, in the fifty- 
third year of his age. His character was in every respect 
estimable. He possessed a cultivated taste for literature, 
and was a polished and eloquent speaker. 



440 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

THOMAS STONE. 

Thomas Stone was born in Charles county, Maryland, 
in 1743. He was a descendant of William Stone, who 
was governor of Maryland during the protectorate of 
Oliver Cromwell. 

After acquiring a tolerable acquaintance with the learn- 
ed languages, he entered upon the study of the law. 
Having obtained a competent knowledge of the profession, 
he commenced practice in Fredericktown, Maryland. Af- 
ter residing at this place two years, he removed to Charles 
county, in the same state. At the age of twenty-eight, he 
received by marriage the sum of one thousand pounds 
sterling, and with it purchased a farm near the village of 
Port Tobacco, upon which he continued to reside during 
the revolutionary struggle. Although his business was by 
no means lucrative, nor his fortune considerable, his well- 
known honesty and ability caused him to be sent a dele- 
gate to the Congress of 1776, to which body he was re- 
elected for several subsequent years. After the Maryland 
legislature had relieved him and his colleagues of the re- 
strictions which bound them, he joyfully affixed his name 
to the Declaration of Independence. 

Mr. Stone was a member of the committee appointed by 
Congress to prepare articles of confederation ; and the 
manner in which he discharged the duties devolving upon 
him in that station, was highly satisfactory. After seeing 
the confederation finally agreed upon in Congress, he de- 
clined a reappointment to that body, but became a mem- 
ber of the legislature of his native state. In 1783, he was 
again chosen to Congress, and, in the session of 1784, 
acted for some time as president pro tempore. On the 
adjournment of Congress this year, he retired from that 
body, and engaged actively in the duties of his profession. 
His practice now became lucrative in Annapolis, whither 
he had removed ; and he soon rose to distinction at the 
bar. As an advocate, he excelled in strength of argu- 
ment, and was often employed in cases of great difficulty. 

Mr. Stone died on the 5th of October, 1787, in the forty- 
fifth year of his age, and while on the point of embarking 
for Europe, for the benefit of his health. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 441 



GEORGE TAYLOR. 

George Taylor was born in Ireland, in the year 1716. 
At a suitable age, he commenced the study of medicine ; 
but, his genius not being adapted to his profession, he re- 
linquished his medical studies, and soon after set sail for 
America. On his arrival, he was entirely destitute of 
money, and was obliged to resort to manual labor to pay 
the expenses of his voyage. He was first engaged in the 
iron works of Mr. Savage, at Durham, on the Delaware, 
and was afterwards taken into his counting-room as a 
clerk. In this situation he rendered himself very useful, 
and, at length, upon the death of Mr. Savage, he became 
connected in marriage with his widow, and consequently 
the proprietor of the whole establishment. In a few years, 
the fortune of Mr. Taylor was considerably augmented. 
He now purchased a handsome estate, near the River Le- 
high, in the county of Northampton, where he erected a 
spacious mansion, and took up his permanent abode. In 
1764, he was chosen a member of the Provincial Assem- 
bly, where he soon became conspicuous. In this body he 
continued to represent the county of Northampton until 
1770 ; but he afterwards returned to Durham, to repair the 
losses of fortune, to which the change of his place of busi- 
ness had led. 

In October, 1775, he was again chosen to the Provin- 
cial Assembly, and, the following month, was appointed, in 
connection with others, to report a set of instructions to 
the delegates which the Assembly had just appointed to the 
Continental Congress. Pennsylvania was for some time 
opposed to an immediate rupture with the mother country ; 
and it was only by the casting vote of Mr. Morton, that her 
consent to the measure of independence was secured. On 
the 20th of July, 1776, the Pennsylvania Convention pro- 
ceeded to a new choice of representatives. Mr. Morton, 
Dr. Franklin, Mr. Morris, and Mr. Wilson, who had voted 
in favor of the declaration of independence, were reelected. 
Those who had opposed it were at this time dropped, and 
the following gentlemen were appointed in their place, viz., 
Mr. Taylor, Mr. Ross, Mr. Clymer, Dr. Rush, and Mr. 
Smith. 



442 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

Mr. Taylor retired from Congress in 1777, and died 
on the 23d of February, 1781, in the sixty-sixth year of 
his age. 

MATTHEW THORNTON. 

Matthew Thornton was born in Ireland, about the 
year 1714. When he was two or three years old, his 
father emigrated to America, and, after a residence of a 
few years at Wiscasset, in Maine, he removed to Worces- 
ter, in Massachusetts. Here young Thornton received a 
respectable education, and subsequently commenced the 
study of medicine. Soon after completing his preparatory 
course, he removed to Londonderry, in New Hampshire, 
where he entered upon the practice of his profession, and 
soon became distinguished, both as a physician and a 
surgeon. 

In 1745, Dr. Thornton was appointed to accompany the 
New Hampshire troops, as a surgeon, in the well-known 
expedition, planned by Governor Shirley, against Cape 
Breton. His professional abilities were here creditably 
tested ; for of the corps of five hundred men, of whom he 
had charge as a physician, only six died of sickness, previ- 
ous to the surrender of Louisburg, notwithstanding the 
hardships to which they were exposed. 

Under the royal government, Dr. Thornton was invested 
with the office of justice of the peace, and commissioned 
as colonel of the militia. But when that government was 
dissolved, Colonel Thornton abjured the British interest, 
and adhered to the patriotic cause. He was president of 
a Provincial Convention, assembled at Exeter, in 1775. 

The next year he was chosen a delegate to the Continental 
Congress, and signed his name to the engrossed copy of the 
Declaration of Independence. During the same year, he 
was appointed chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas, 
and shortly after was raised to the office of judge of the 
Superior Court of New Hampshire, in which office he con- 
tinued until 1782. Two years previous to this latter date, 
he had purchased a farm, pleasantly situated on the banks 
of the Merrimack, near Exeter, where he principally de- 
voted himself to agriculture. He was a member of the 
General Court for one or two years, and a senator in the 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 443 

state legislature, as also a member of the Council in 1785, 
under President Langdon. Dr. Thornton died while on a 
visit at Newburyport, on the 24th of June, 1803, in the 
eighty-ninth year of his age. 

He was a man of strong powers of mind, and was re- 
markably entertaining and instructive in conversation. 



GEORGE WALTON. 

George Walton was born in the county of Frederick, 
Virginia, about the year 1740. He was early apprenticed 
to a carpenter, who, being a man of contracted views, not 
only kept him hard at work during the day, but refused 
him the privilege of a candle, by which to read at night. 
Young Walton, however, was resolutely bent on the ac- 
quisition of knowledge, and contrived to collect, at his 
leisure moments, pieces of lightwood, which served, at 
night, in place of a candle. His application was intense, 
and his attainments were rapid and valuable. 

At the expiration of his apprenticeship, he removed to 
the province of Georgia, and, entering upon the study of 
the law, commenced, in 1774, the practice of that profes- 
sion. At this time, the British government was in the ex- 
ercise of full power in Georgia. Mr. Walton was one of 
the most zealous of the few advocates of the patriotic 
cause. He was a member of the committee which pre- 
pared a petition to the king ; and, in 1776, he was elected 
a delegate to the Continental Congress. In this station he 
continued to represent the state of Georgia, until October, 
1781. He was extremely useful on many important com- 
mittees, and always evinced much zeal and intelligence in 
the discharge of his duties. 

In December, 1778, Mr. Walton received a colonel's 
commission in the militia, and was present at the sur- 
render of Savannah to the British arms. During the 
obstinate defence of that place, he was wounded in the 
thigh, in consequence of which, he fell from his horse, and 
was made a prisoner by the British troops. A brigadier- 
general was demanded in exchange for him; but, in 
September, 1779, he was exchanged for a captain in the 
navy. In the following month, he was chosen governor of 



444 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



the state, and, in the succeeding January, was elected a 
member of Congress for two years. 

The remainder of Mr. Walton's life was filled up in the 
discharge of the most respectable offices within the gift of 
the state. He was at six different times chosen a repre- 
sentative to Congress ; twice appointed governor of the 
state; once a senator of the United States; and at four 
different periods, a judge of the Superior Courts. He 
was a man of no ordinary talents, and was conspicuous 
for his uniform devotion to liberty. He died on the 2d 
of February, 1804. 



WILLIAM WHIPPLE. 

William Whipple was born at Kittery, Maine, in the 
year 1730. His education was limited, and, on leaving 
school, he entered on board a merchant vessel, and devoted 
himself for several years to commercial pursuits. His voy- 
ages were chiefly to the West Indies, and, proving success- 
ful, he acquired a considerable fortune. 

In 1759, he relinquished his seafaring occupation, and 
commenced business at Portsmouth. He entered with 
spirit into the controversy between Great Britain and the 
colonies, and, in 1775, represented the town of Ports- 
mouth in the Provincial Congress, which met at Exeter. 
In 1776, he was appointed a delegate to the General Con- 
gress, of which body he continued a member, until Sep- 
tember, 1779. 

In the year 1777, while Mr. Whipple was a member of 
Congress, the appointment of brigadier-general was be- 
stowed upon him and the celebrated John Stark, by the 
Assembly of New Hampshire. He was present at the des- 
perate battle of Saratoga; and his meritorious conduct on 
the occasion was rewarded by his being jointly appointed, 
with Colonel Wilkinson, as the representative of General 
Gates, to meet two officers from General Burgoyne, and 
settle the articles of capitulation. He was also selected 
as one of the officers who were appointed to conduct 
the surrendered army to their destined encampment, on 
Winter Hill, in the vicinity of Boston. In 1778, General 
Whipple, with a detachment of New Hampshire militia, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 445 

was engaged, under General Sullivan, in executing a plan 
for the retaking of Rhode Island from the British. 

During the remaining years of his life, Mr. Whipple 
filled many important offices. As a representative to the 
state legislature, he was highly popular ; and, in 1782, he 
received the appointment of receiver of public moneys 
for New Hampshire, from Mr. Morris, the superintendent 
of finance. He relinquished the office in 1784, and con- 
tinued in the station of judge of the Superior Court of 
Judicature. The duties of the latter office he discharged 
until the 28th of November, 1785, when he expired, in the 
fifty-fifth year of his age. 



WILLIAM WILLIAMS. 

William Williams was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, 
on the 8th of April, 1731. At the age of sixteen, he en- 
tered Harvard College, and, after the usual period, was 
honorably graduated. For some time after his return home, 
he devoted himself to theological studies, under the direc- 
tion of his father. In 1755, he belonged to the staff of 
Colonel Ephraim Williams, the founder of Williams Col- 
lege in Massachusetts, and was present at the celebrated 
battle fought at the head of Lake George, between the 
provincial troops and the French Canadians. During the 
contest, Colonel Williams was shot through the head by 
an Indian, and killed. 

Soon after this occurrence, William Williams returned 
to Lebanon, and, in 1756, was chosen clerk of the town — 
an office which he continued to hold for the space of forty- 
five years. About the same time, he was appointed a rep- 
resentative to the General Assembly of Connecticut. In 
this latter capacity he served for many years, during which 
he was often appointed clerk of the house, and not unfre- 
quently filled the speaker's chair. In 1780, he was trans- 
ferred to the Upper House, being elected an assistant — an 
office which he held for twenty-four years. 

Mr. Williams was a member of the Continental Con- 
gress, during the years 1776 and 1777, and took an hon- 
orable part in the deliberations of that body. During his 
campaign at the north, he had been disgusted with the 
38 



446 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

British commanders, on account of the haughtiness of their 
conduct, and the little attachment which they manifested 
for his native country. The impression was powerful and 
enduring, and led him to form a sincere and devoted wish 
for the independence of America. 

The following anecdote has been related as a proof of 
the patriotic spirit of Mr. Williams : Towards the close 
of the year 1776, the military affairs of the colonies wore 
a gloomy aspect. In this doubtful state of things, the 
council of safety for Connecticut was called to sit at Leb- 
anon. Two of the members of this council, William Hill- 
house and Benjamin Huntington, quartered with Mr. Wil- 
liams. One evening, the conversation turned upon the 
gloomy state of the country, and the probability, that, after 
all, success would crown the British arms. "Well," said 
Mr. Williams, with great calmness, " if they succeed, it is 
pretty evident what will be my fate. I have done much 
to prosecute the contest, and one thing I have done which 
the British will never pardon — I have signed the Decla- 
ration of Independence. I shall be hanged." Mr. Hill- 
house expressed a confident hope that America would yet 
be successful. Mr. Huntington observed, that, in case of 
ill success, he should be exempt from the gallows, as his 
signature was not attached to the Declaration, nor had he 
written any thing against the British government. To 
this Mr. Williams replied, his eye kindling as he spoke, 
" Then, sir, you deserve to be hanged, for not having done 
your duty." 

Mr. Williams died on the 2d day of August, 1811, in 
the eighty-first year of his age. 



JAMES WILSON. 

James Wilson was born in Scotland, about the year 
1742. He received an excellent education, studying suc- 
cessively at Glasgow, St. Andrews, and Edinburgh, and 
enjoying the instruction of the distinguished Dr. Blair, and 
the not less celebrated Dr. Watts. 

After completing his studies, he embarked for America, 
and arrived at Philadelphia early in the year 1766. Here 
he served some time in the capacity of tutor in the college 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 447 

of the city, and acquired the reputation of being a fine 
classical scholar. He shortly after entered the law office 
of Mr. John Dickinson, and, at the expiration of two 
years, commenced practice, first at Reading and Carlisle, 
then at Annapolis, and finally at Philadelphia, where 
he continued to reside during the remainder of his life. 
At an early period, Mr. Wilson espoused the cause of the 
colonies. He was an American in principle from the 
time that he landed on the American shore. He became 
a member of the Provincial Convention of Pennsylvania, 
and, in 1775, was unanimously elected a delegate to Con- 
gress. His standing, during the whole course of his at- 
tendance on this body, was deservedly high. He evinced 
great ability and fidelity in the discharge of his numerous 
duties, and voted in favor of independence, in opposition 
to a majority of his colleagues. 

The high estimation in which Mr. Wilson was held, 
may be learned from his receiving the appointment of 
advocate-general for the French government, in the United 
States. He continued to hold this office, which was both 
arduous and delicate, for several years, at the close of 
which, the king of France handsomely rewarded him by 
a gift of ten thousand livres. About the year 1782, Mr. 
Wilson was appointed a counsellor and agent for Penn- 
sylvania, in the great controversy between that state and 
the state of Connecticut, relating to certain lands within 
the charter boundary of Pennsylvania. He discovered 
much legal knowledge and tact in the management of this 
business ; and the question was finally settled in favor of 
Pennsylvania. 

He was a member of the celebrated Convention of 
1787, which assembled in Philadelphia, for the purpose 
of forming the constitution of the United States. During 
the long deliberations on this instrument, he rendered 
the most important services. He was on the committee 
which reported the draught of the constitution, and did 
much to settle, upon just principles, the great and impor- 
tant points which naturally arose in the formation of a 
new government. 

When the state Convention of Pennsylvania assembled 
to ratify the federal constitution, Mr. Wilson was re- 



448 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

turned a member of that body; and, as he was the only 
one who had assisted in forming that instrument, it de- 
volved upon him to explain to the Convention the princi- 
ples upon which it was founded, and the great objects 
which it had in view. 

In 1789, Mr. Wilson was appointed, by Washington, a 
judge of the Supreme Court, under the federal constitu- 
tion. In this office he continued until his Jeath, which 
occurred on "the 28th of August, 1798, at Edenton, in 
North Carolina, while on a circuit attending to his judicial 
duties. Mr. Wilson was twice married ; the first time to 
a daughter of William Bird, of Berks county, and the sec- 
ond time to a daughter of Mr. Ellis Gray, of Boston. 



JOHN WITHERSPOON. 

John Witherspoon, alike distinguished as a minister 
of the gospel and a patriot of the revolution, was born 
in the parish of Yester, a few miles from Edinburgh, on 
the 5th of February, 1722. He was lineally descended 
from John Knox, the celebrated Scottish reformer, and 
was sent at an early age to the public school at Hadding- 
ton, where he applied himself closely to the study of clas- 
sical literature. 

At the age of fourteen, he was removed to the Univer- 
sity of Edinburgh ; and, on completing his theological 
studies, he was ordained and settled in the parish of 
Beith, in the west of Scotland. 

Doctor Witherspoon left behind him a sphere of great 
usefulness and respectability, in retiring from his native 
land. He arrived in America in August, 1768, and in 
the same month was inaugurated president of the College 
of New Jersey. His exertions in raising the character 
and increasing the funds of this institution, were success- 
ful and indefatigable. 

On the occurrence of the American war, the college 
was broken up, and the officers and students were dis- 
persed. Doctor Witherspoon now assumed a new atti- 
tude before the American public. On becoming a citizen 
of the country, he warmly espoused her cause against the 
British ministry. He was a delegate to the Convention 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 449 

which formed the republican constitution of New Jersey, 
and proved himself as able a politician as he was known 
to be philosopher and divine. Early in the year 1776, 
he was chosen a representative to the General Congress, 
by the people of New Jersey. He took a part in the de- 
liberations on the question of independence, for which he 
was a warm advocate. To a gentleman, who declared 
that the country was not yet ripe for a declaration of 
independence, he replied, " Sir, in my judgment, the 
country is not only ripe, but rotting" 

For the space of seven years, Doctor Witherspoon 
continued a delegate from New Jersey to the Continental 
Congress. Few men acted with more energy or promp- 
titude, or attended more closely and faithfully than he to 
the duties of his station. 

At the close of the year 1779, Doctor Witherspoon vol- 
untarily retired from Congress, and resigned the Gare and 
instruction of the students to another. His name, how- 
ever, continued to add celebrity to the institution over 
which he had so creditably presided. But he did not 
remain long in repose. In 1781, he was again chosen to 
Congress, and, in 1783, he embarked for England, with 
the view of promoting the interests of the college, for 
which he had already done so much. He returned to 
America in 1784, and again withdrew from active life. 

Doctor Witherspoon was an admirable model for a 
young preacher. " A profound theologian, perspicuous 
and simple in his manner ; a universal scholar, ac- 
quainted with human nature ; a grave, dignified, solemn 
speaker, — he brought all the advantages derived from 
these sources, to the illustration and enforcement of 
divine truth. His social qualities rendered him one of 
the most companionable of men." 

Doctor Witherspoon was twice married ; the first time 
in Scotland, at an early age, to a lady of the name of 
Montgomery ; and the second time, at the age of seventy 
years, to a lady who was only twenty-three. He had 
several children, who all passed, or are passing, honora- 
bly through life. He died on the loth day of November, 
1794, in the seventy-third year of his age. His works 
have been collected in four volumes, octavo. 
38* 



450 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



OLIVER WOLCOTT. 

Oliver Wolcott was born in Connecticut, in 1726. 
His family was ancient and distinguished; and his an- 
cestors successively held a long list of honorable offices 
in the state. He was graduated at Yale College, in 1747, 
and the same year received a commission as captain in 
the army, in the French war. At the head of a company, 
which was raised by his own exertions, he proceeded to 
the defence of the northern frontiers, where he continued 
until the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. 

At this time, he returned to his native state, and entered 
upon the study of medicine. He never engaged in the 
practice of the profession, however, in consequence of 
receiving the appointment of sheriff of the county of 
Litchfield. In 1774, he was elected an assistant in the 
Council of the state, and continued in the office till 1786. 
He was also for some time chief judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas for the county, and judge of the Court of 
Probate for the district of Litchfield. In 1776, he was 
chosen a delegate from Connecticut to the national Con- 
gress, which assembled at Philadelphia. He participated 
in the deliberations of that body, and had the honor of 
recording his name in favor of the declaration of inde- 
pendence. 

From the time of the adoption of that measure until 
1786, he was either in attendance upon Congress, in the 
field in defence of his country, or, as a commissioner of 
Indian affairs for the northern department, assisting in 
settling the terms of peace with the Six Nations. In 
1786, he was chosen lieutenant-governor of Connecticut, 
an office which he continued to hold for ten years, at the 
expiration of which he was raised to the chief magistracy 
of the state. He died on the 1st of December, 1797, in 
the seventy-second year of his age. 

Mr. Wolcott was possessed of great resolution of char- 
acter, and his attainments in literature were of a superior 
order. He was also distinguished for his love of order and 
religion. In 1755, he was married to a Miss Collins, of 
Guilford, an estimable woman, with whom he enjoyed 
much domestic felicity, for the space of forty years. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 451 



GEORGE WYTHE. 

George Wythe was born in the county of Elizabeth 
City, Virginia, in the year 1726. His mother, who was 
a woman of superior acquirements, instructed him in the 
learned languages, and he made considerable progress in 
several of the solid sciences, and in polite literature. Before 
he became of age, he was deprived of both his parents ; 
and, inheriting considerable property, he became addict- 
ed, for several years, to dissipated courses and habits of 
profligacy. But, at the age of thirty, he abandoned en- 
tirely his youthful follies, and applied himself with inde- 
fatigable industry to study, never relapsing into any indul- 
gence inconsistent with a manly and virtuous character. 

Having studied the profession of law, he soon attained 
a high reputation at the bar, and was appointed from his 
native county to a seat in the House of Burgesses. He 
took a conspicuous part in the proceedings of this assem- 
bly, and some of the most eloquent state papers of the 
time were drawn up by him. The remonstrance to the 
House of Commons, which was of a remarkably fearless 
and independent tone, was the production of his pen. By 
his patriotic firmness and zeal, he powerfully contributed 
to the ultimate success of his country. 

In 1775, Mr. Wythe was elected a delegate from Vir- 
ginia to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. He 
assisted in bringing forward and urging the Declaration 
of Independence, and affixed his name to that deathless 
instrument. During this latter year, he was appointed, in 
connection with Thomas Jefferson, Edward Pendleton, and 
others, to revise the laws of the state of Virginia. In the 
year 1777, Mr. Wythe was chosen speaker of the House 
of Delegates, and during the same year was made judge 
of the High Court of Chancery. On the new organization 
of the Court of Equity, in a subsequent year, he was ap- 
pointed sole chancellor, a station which he filled, with 
great ability, for more than twenty years. 

In the course of the revolution, Mr. Wythe suffered 
much in respect to his property. By judicious manage- 
ment, however, he contrived to retrieve his fortune, and 
preserve his credit unimpaired. Of the Convention of 



452 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

1787, appointed to revise the federal constitution, he was 
an efficient member. During the debates, he acted for 
the most part as chairman. He was a warm advocate 
for the constitution, and esteemed it the surest guaranty 
of the peace and prosperity of the country. He died on 
the 8th of June, 1806, in the eighty-first year of his age, 
after a short but very excruciating sickness. By his last 
will and testament, Mr. Wythe bequeathed his valuable 
library and philosophical apparatus to his friend, Mr. Jef- 
ferson, and distributed the remainder of his little property 
among the grandchildren of his sister, and the slaves whom 
he had set free. 



SELECT LIVES 

OF 

PERSONS DISTINGUISHED IN AMERICAN HISTORY, 



AMES, FISHER, one of the most eloquent of Ameri- 
can writers and statesmen, was born at Dedham, in Mas- 
sachusetts, in the year 1758. He was educated at Harvard 
College, where he received his degree in 1774. About 
seven years afterwards, he began the practice of the law, 
and an opportunity soon occurred for the display of his 
superior qualifications both as a speaker and essay-writer. 
He distinguished himself as a member of the Massachu- 
setts Convention for ratifying the constitution in 1788, 
and from this body passed to the House of Representatives 
in the state legislature. Soon after, he was elected the 
first representative of the Suffolk district in the Congress 
of the United States, where he remained with the highest 
honor during the eight years of Washington's administra- 
tion. On the retirement of the first president, Mr. Ames 
returned to the practice of his profession in his native 
town. During the remaining years of his life, his health 
was very much impaired ; but his mind still continued 



SELECT LIVES. 453 

deeply interested in politics, and he published a consider- 
able number of essays on the most stirring topics of the 
day. He died in 1808. In the following year, his works 
were issued in one volume octavo, prefaced by a biograph- 
ical notice from the pen of his friend, the Rev. Dr. Kirk- 
land. 

ALLEN, ETHAN, a brigadier-general in the revolu- 
tionary army, was born in Salisbury, Connecticut, but was 
educated principally in Vermont. In 1775, soon after the 
battle of Lexington, he collected a body of about three 
hundred Green Mountain boys, as they were called, and 
marched against the fortresses of Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point ; and in each of these enterprises he was successful. 
He was shortly after taken prisoner and sent to England. 
Of the events of his captivity he has himself given an in- 
teresting narrative. On release from his confinement, he 
repaired to the head-quarters of General Washington, 
where he was received with much respect. As his health 
was much injured, he returned to Vermont, after having 
made an offer of his services to the commander-in-chief 
in case of his recovery. He died suddenly at Colchester, 
in 1789. Among other publications, Allen was the author 
of a work entitled Allen's Theology, or the Oracles of 
Reason, the first formal attack upon the Christian religion 
issued in the United States. He was a man of an exceed- 
ingly strong mind, but entirely rough and uneducated. 

ALEXANDER, WILLIAM, a major-general in the 
American army, during the revolutionary war, was born 
in the city of New York, but passed a portion of his life 
in New Jersey. He acted an important part throughout 
the revolution, and distinguished himself particularly in 
the battles of Long Island, Germantown, and Monmouth. 
He died at Albany, in 1783, at the age of fifty-seven years, 
leaving behind him the reputation of a brave officer and a 
learned man. 

ARNOLD, BENEDICT, known for his distinguished 
services and daring treachery in the American revolu- 
tion, was born in Connecticut, of an obscure parentage, 
and received an education suitable to his humble condi- 
tion. Eager for renown, and greedy of money, he em- 
braced the cause of his countrymen at an early period, 



454 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

and took the command of a company of volunteers at 
New Haven. He soon won a high military reputation, 
and was employed by Washington in expeditions that re- 
quired the highest skill and courage, and placed in the 
command of posts of the highest importance. When the 
English evacuated Philadelphia, Arnold was directed to 
take possession of that city with some troops of the Penn- 
sylvania line. Here he was guilty of the most profligate 
extravagance and the meanest peculation. Charges were 
preferred against him; he was tried before a court-martial, 
and condemned to be reprimanded by the commander-in- 
chief. He immediately quitted the army, and thenceforth 
nourished an implacable hatred against the cause which he 
had so brilliantly defended. Having subsequently entered 
into a correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton, and a di- 
rect communication with the English general having been 
established, it was agreed between them that Arnold 
should dissemble his real feelings, and make every effort to 
obtain a command from General Washington. He was 
but too successful, and the fortress of West Point, a mili- 
tary station of very great importance, was confidently in- 
trusted to him. This fortress he bargained with General 
Clinton to deliver into his hands ; and the price of his 
treachery was the promise of 30,000 pounds sterling, and 
the rank of brigadier-general in the British army. The 
treason was discovered by the accidental arrest of Andre, 
the agent of the British general in effecting the negotia- 
tion. Arnold escaped with difficulty on board a British 
ship of war, and on the conclusion of the war was reward- 
ed by his employers with a pension. He died in London 
in 1801. 

ANDRE, JOHN ; an adjutant-general in the British 
army in North America during the revolutionary war. 
Being employed to negotiate with Arnold the delivery of 
the works at West Point, he was apprehended in disguise 
within the American lines. He was condemned as a spy 
from the enemy, and, according to the established usages 
of war, was executed in 1780, at the age of twenty-nine 
years. A monument has been erected to his memory in 
Westminster Abbey. He is the author of a poem entitled 
The Cow Chase. 



SELECT LIVES. 455 

BULL, WILLIAM, M. D., was the first white person 
born in South Carolina, and is supposed to be the first 
American who obtained a degree in medicine. He was a 
pupil of the great Boerhaave, and acquired some literary 
and professional distinction. In 1734, he defended and 
published, at the University of Leyden, his inauguraj thesis 
De Colica Pictorum. After returning from Europe to his 
native state, he was successively a member of the Council, 
speaker of the House of Representatives, and lieutenant- 
governor. When the British troops removed from South 
Carolina in 1782, he accompanied them to England, and 
died in London, in 1791, in the eighty-second year of 
his age. 

BOONE, DANIEL, one of the earliest settlers in 
Kentucky, was born in Virginia, and was from infancy ad- 
dicted to hunting in the woods. He set out on an expedi- 
tion to explore the region of Kentucky, in May, 1769, with 
five companions. After meeting with a variety of adven- 
tures, Boone was left with his brother, the only white men 
in the wilderness. They passed the winter in a cabin, and, 
in the summer of 1770, traversed the country to the Cum- 
berland River. In September, 1773, Boone commenced 
his removal to Kentucky, with his own and five other 
families. He was joined by forty men, who put themselves 
under his direction ; but, being attacked by the Indians, 
the whole party returned to the settlements on Clinch 
River. Boone was afterwards employed, by a company of 
North Carolina, to buy, from the Indians, lands on the south 
side of the Kentucky River. In April, 1775, he built a fort 
at Saltspring, where Boonesborough is now situated. Here 
he sustained several sieges from the Indians, and was once 
taken prisoner by them, while hunting, with a number of 
his men. In 1782, the depredations of the savages in- 
creased to an alarming extent, and Boone, with other mi- 
litia officers, collected one hundred and seventy-six men, 
and went in pursuit of a large body, who had marched 
beyond the Blue Licks, forty miles from Lexington. From 
that time till 1798, he resided alternately in Kentucky 
and Virginia. In that year, having received a grant of 
two thousand acres of land from the Spanish authorities, 
he removed to Upper Louisiana, with his children and 



456 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

followers, who were presented with eight hundred acres 
each. He settled with them at Charette, on the Missouri 
River, where he followed his usual course of life, hunting 
and trapping bears, till September, 1822, when he died in 
the eighty-fifth year of his age. He expired while on his 
knees, taking aim at some object, and was found in that 
position, with his gun resting on the trunk of a tree. 

BOUDINOT, ELIAS, a descendant of one of the Hugue- 
nots, was born in Philadelphia, in 1740. He received a lib- 
eral education, and entered into the practice of the law in 
New Jersey, where he soon rose to considerable eminence. 
In 1777, he was chosen a member of Congress, and, in 
1782, was elected president of that body. On the return 
of peace, he resumed his profession, but, in 1789, was 
elected to a seat in the House of Representatives of the 
United States, which he continued to occupy for six years. 
He was then appointed, by Washington, director of the na- 
tional mint, in which office he remained for about twelve 
years. Resigning this office, he retired to private life, 
and resided from that time in Burlington, New Jersey. 
Here he passed his time in literary pursuits, liberal hospi- 
tality, and in discharging all the duties of an expansive 
and ever-active benevolence. Being possessed of an am- 
ple fortune, he made munificent donations to various 
charitable and theological institutions, and was one of the 
earliest and most efficient friends of the American Bible 
Society. Of this institution he was the first president, and 
it was particularly the object of his princely bounty. He 
died in October, 1821. 

BALDWIN, ABRAHAM, eminent as a statesman, 
and president of tfte University of Georgia, was graduated 
at Yale College, in 1772. He was a member of the Con- 
vention which formed the constitution of the United 
States, in 1787, and held a seat successively in both houses 
of Congress. He died at Washington, in 1807. 

BARLOW, JOEL, an American poet and diplomatist, 
was born in Reading, in Connecticut, about the year 1755. 
His father died while he was yet a lad at school, and left 
him little more than sufficient to defray the expenses 
of a liberal education. He was first placed at Dartmouth 
College, Hew Hampshire, then in its infancy, and, after a 



SELECT LIVES. 457 

very short residence there, removed to Yale College, New 
Haven. From this institution he received a degree in 
1778, when he first came before the public in his poetical 
character, by reciting an original poem, which was soon 
after published. On leaving college, he was successively 
a chaplain in the revolutionary army, an editor, a booksell- 
er, a lawyer, and a merchant. He next visited England, 
and published, in London, the first part of Advice to the 
Privileged Orders ; and, in the succeeding year, a poem 
called the Conspiracy of Kings. In the latter part of 
1792, he was appointed one of the deputies from the Lon- 
don Constitutional Society to present an address to the 
relational Convention of France. Information of the notice 
^•bich the British government had taken of this mission, 
led him to think that it would be unsafe to return to Eng- 
land ; and he continued to reside in Paris for about three 
years. It was about this time that he composed his most 
popular poem, entitled Plasty Pudding. He was subse- 
quently appointed consul for the United States at Algiers, 
with powers to negotiate a peace with the dey, and to re- 
deem all American citizens held in slavery on the coast of 
Barbary. After discharging these duties, he returned to 
Paris, and, again engaging in trade, amassed a considerable 
fortune. In 1805, he returned to his native country, and 
fixed his residence at Washington, where he displayed a 
liberal hospitality, and lived on terms of intimacy with 
most of our distinguished statesmen. He now devoted 
himself to the publication of the Columbiad, which was 
based upon a poem written while he was in the army, and 
published soon after the close of the war, under the title 
of the Vision of Columbus. This was issued in a style 
of elegance which few works, either American or Euro- 
pean, have ever equalled. In 1811, he was appointed 
minister to France, and, in October of the following year, 
was invited to a conference with the emperor Napoleon at 
Wilna. He immediately set off on this mission, travelling 
day and night ; but, sinking under the fatigue, and want of 
food and sleep to which he was obliged to submit, he fell 
into a state of debility and torpor from which he never 
recovered. He died in December, 1812, at Zarnawica, a 
village in Poland, near Cracow. 
B 39 



458 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

BOWDOIN, JAMES, a governor of Massachusetts, 
was born at Boston, in the year 1727, and was graduated 
at Harvard College, in 1745. He took an early stand 
against the encroachments of the British government upon 
the provincial rights, and, in 1774, was elected a delegate 
to the first Congress. The state of his health prevented 
his attendance, and his place was afterwards filled by Mr. 
Hancock. In 1778, he was chosen president of the con- 
vention which formed the constitution of Massachusetts, 
and, in 1785, was chosen governor of that state. He 
was a member of the Massachusetts convention assembled 
to deliberate on the adoption of the constitution of the 
United States, and exerted himself in its favor. He was 
the first president of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, 
established at Boston in 1780, and was admitted a member 
of several foreign societies of distinction. He died at 
Boston, in 1790. 

BIDDLE, NICHOLAS, an American naval officer, 
was born in Philadelphia, in 1750. He entered the British 
fleet in 1770, having previously served several years as a 
seaman on board merchant ships. On the commencement 
of hostilities between the colonies and the mother country, 
he returned to Philadelphia, and received from Congress 
the captaincy of the Andrew Doria, a brig of fourteen guns, 
employed in the expedition against New Providence. To- 
wards the close of 1776, he received command of the 
Randolph, a new frigate of thirty-two guns, with which he 
soon captured a Jamaica fleet of four sail, richly laden. 
This prize he carried into Charleston, and was soon after 
furnished by the government of that town with four ad- 
ditional vessels, to attack several British cruisers, at that 
time harassing the commerce of the vicinity. He fell in 
with the royal line of battle ship Yarmouth, of sixty-four 
guns, on the 7th of March, 1778, and, after an action of 
twenty minutes, perished, with all his crew except four, by 
the blowing up of the ship. 

BRADDOCK, EDWARD, major-general of the British 
army, and commander of the detachment engaged in the 
expedition against the French on the River Ohio, in 1755, 
arrived in Virginia in February of that year, and in the 
spring marched against Fort Du Quesne. On his march 



SELECT LIVES. 459 

thither, he fell into an ambuscade of the Indians, by 
which he lost nearly one half of his troops, and received 
himself a mortal wound. 

BAYARD, JAMES A., an eminent American lawyer 
and politician, was born in Philadelphia, in 1767, and edu- 
cated at Princeton College. In the year 1784, he engaged 
in the study of the law, and, on admission to the bar, settled 
in the state of Delaware, where he soon acquired practice 
and consideration. He was elected to a seat in Congress 
towards the close of the administration of Mr. Adams, and 
first particularly distinguished himself in conducting the 
impeachment of senator Blount. In 1804, he was elected to 
the Senate of the United States by the legislature of Dela- 
ware, and remained for several years a conspicuous member 
of that assembly. In 1813, he was appointed, by President 
Madison, one of the ministers to conclude a treaty of 
peace with Great Britain, and assisted in the successful 
negotiations at Ghent, in the following year. He then re- 
ceived the appointment of minister to the court of St. Pe- 
tersburg ; but an alarming illness induced him to return 
immediately to the United States. He died soon after his 
arrival home, in July, 1815. 

BARNEY, JOSHUA, a distinguished naval com- 
mander in the service of the United States, was born at 
Baltimore, Maryland, in 1759. Pie went to sea at a very 
early age ; and, when the war commenced between Great 
Britain and the colonies, Barney offered his services to 
the latter, and obtained the situation of master's mate in 
the sloop of war Hornet. During the war, he was several 
times taken prisoner by the enemy, and displayed, on 
numerous occasions, great valor and enterprise. In 1795, 
he received the commission of captain in the French 
service, but in 1800, resigned his command, and returned 
to America. In 1812, when war was declared against 
Great Britain, he offered his services to the general gov- 
ernment, and was appointed to the command of the flotilla 
for the defence of the Chesapeake. While in this sit- 
uation, during the summer of 1814, he kept up an active 
warfare with the enemy ; and in the latter part of July, he 
was severely wounded in a land engagement near Bladens- 
burg. In the following year, he was sent on a mission to 



460 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

Europe. He died at Pittsburg, in 1818, in the sixtieth 
year of his age. 

BROWN, JOHN, was born in 1736, in Providence, 
Rhode Island, and was a leader of the party which, in 
1772, destroyed the British sloop of war Gasper in Nar- 
raganset Bay. He became an enterprising and wealthy 
merchant, and was the first in his native state who traded 
with the East Indies and China. He was chosen a mem- 
ber of Congress, and was a generous patron of literature, 
and a great projector of works of public utility. He died 
in 1803. 

BURNET, WILLIAM, the son of Bishop Burnet, was 
born at the Hague, in 1688. After having held the office 
of comptroller of the customs in England, he was, in 1720, 
appointed governor of New York and New Jersey. In 
1728, he was appointed to the government of Massa- 
chusetts and New Hampshire, where his administration 
was rendered unpleasant by a controversy with the Assem- 
bly. He died at Boston, in 1729. He was a man of 
learning, and published several works on theological and 
philosophical subjects. 

BURR, AARON, vice-president of the United States, 
was born at Newark, New Jersey, February 6, 1756. 

His father, Rev. Aaron Burr, was the first president of 
Nassau Hall College. He was a divine of great eloquence 
and piety, though rather eccentric. He married the daugh- 
ter of the celebrated Jonathan Edwards. 

They both died before the subject of this memoir was 
three years old. Thus in his infancy deprived of his 
natural guardians, with a large estate to purchase the 
smiles of the world and quench its frowns, he gave way to 
all the vagaries of a naturally wayward disposition. At 
the age of four years, he ran away from his teacher, and 
could not be found till three or four days had expired. At 
the age of ten, he performed the same feat, and entered as 
a cabin boy on board of an outward-bound vessel, where 
he was found by his uncle, perched on the mast-head, 
ready to receive him and arrange articles of capitulation, 
before he put himself into the power of the enemy. He 
entered the sophomore class at Nassau Hall College at 
the age of thirteen, and was exceedingly disappointed in 



SELECT LIVES. 461 

being excluded from entrance into the junior class, for 
which he was prepared. 

For a few months, he pursued his studies with great 
vigor ; but, on comparing himself with his classmates, he 
found them so much below himself in attainment, that he 
lost the desire to shine as a scholar, and left college with 
a reputation for great talents, based on the result of a few 
months' application in the early part of his college life. 

He, however, took his diploma, left his books, and 
leaped upon the stage of active life. Armed with the 
keenest weapons that could be drawn from the armory of 
a powerful mind, an indomitable will, a quenchless en- 
ergy, and a self-possession which was never known but 
once to forsake him in the whole course of his eventful 
life, — no competition could arrest him, though it might 
divert him from his immediate object ; no power could 
chain him, till it attacked a vulnerable part, his moral 
character. 

On leaving college, he entered the family of Rev. Jon- 
athan Bellamy, to pursue a course of reading on theology, 
where he remained about six months, when he believed 
that he had learned " that the way to heaven was open 
alike to all." He then commenced the study of law, which 
was continually interrupted by the turmoil of political 
strife. At this period, the subject of taxation and of hu- 
man rights was every where debated in our land, and 
Aaron Burr gave his whole soul to the contest, and em- 
braced the cause of patriotism. 

He joined the army at Cambridge as a volunteer ; but, 
dissatisfied with a state of inactivity, though of slender 
frame, and enfeebled by disease, he resolved to join the 
expedition of Arnold up the Kennebec, through the wil- 
derness to Quebec. A messenger from his uncle, who 
was his guardian, announced to Burr, that he had been 
sent to convey him home. " There are but two ways to 
effect your purpose," said Burr ; " the one, to obtain my 
consent, which you shall never have ; the other, to take me 
by force, which if you attempt, I will have you hung up in 
ten minutes." He accordingly departed from Newbury- 
port with the expedition, September 20, 1775. 

The sufferings of this detachment from wet, cold, hun- 
39 * 



462 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

ger, and fatigue, were excessive. On one occasion, Burr 
was carried over a fall of nearly twenty feet, where one 
man was drowned, and a large quantity of baggage lost. 

His fortitude and sagacity usually procured for him 
appointments of a particularly delicate or dangerous char- 
acter. 

On the arrival of the troops at Chaudiere Pond, Arnold 
sent him with a verbal message to General Montgomery. 
Furnished with a guide, and disguised as a priest, he pen- 
etrated the enemy's country as far as Three Rivers, where 
the guide, becoming alarmed, refused to proceed ; they 
remained, therefore, three days, concealed in a convent, 
and, finding no further cause of alarm, they recommenced 
their toilsome and dangerous journey, and arrived in safe- 
ty at the camp of Montgomery. 

The general was astonished at the boyish appearance 
of the messenger of news so important ; but, after listening 
to the incidents of his journey, he was still more aston- 
ished at his maturity of judgment, and his skill manifested 
in the execution of his trust, and appointed him one of his 
aids, though but nineteen years of age. 

After the arrival of Arnold, preparations were made to 
storm the city. General Montgomery, M'Pherson, Cheese- 
man, Burr, and a French guide, led the van, and the Ca- 
nadians fled before them. But by the accidental dis- 
charge of a piece of artillery, three out of the five in the 
van of the column were killed, leaving only Burr and the 
French guide, on which Colonel Campbell ordered a 
retreat. 

Soon after his return from Quebec, at the invitation of 
General Washington, Burr joined his family ; but, a mu- 
tual dislike arising between them, he remained but a short 
time. Whatever may have been the cause of this dislike, 
General Washington, even while doing justice to his merit 
as a skilful officer, from that time, never extended to Burr 
his confidence. 

Burr at length received a commission as lieutenant- 
colonel in the regiment of Colonel Malcolm, stationed in 
Orange county, New York. On presenting himself for the 
first time at the head-quarters of the regiment, Colonel 
Malcolm was greatly disappointed ; for, having had little 



SELECT LIVES. 463 

military experience himself, he had relied much on the aid 
of his second in command, and he very much feared that 
the boy who was now introduced to him would fail in 
judgment and discretion. In a few days, however, he dis- 
covered that he had fallen into the error of Darius of 
Persia, who gave to Alexander the epithet of " the mad 
boy of Macedon," and, feeling no longer any apprehen- 
sion of the consequences, he departed to his family, about 
twenty miles distant, leaving Burr in command, kindly 
remarking, " You shall have all the honor of disciplining 
and fighting the regiment, while I will be its father." 

Colonel Burr now gave his whole attention to the duties 
of his station. He introduced order and discipline among 
a citizen soldiery ; he examined and drew a map of every 
road, wood, hill, or creek, in his vicinity, obtained intelli- 
gence of all the important movements, and even the de- 
signs of the enemy, and personally visited every important 
post of the camp once in every two hours of the night. 

One day, an officer was surprised at Colonel Burr's 
hastily remarking to him, " Drake, that post on the river 
will be attacked to-night, and neither officers nor men 
know their duty; you must defend it; keep your eyes 
open, or you will have your throat cut before morning." 
Drake assumed the command, ordered every soldier to 
stand at his post, prepared for instant battle, where they 
stood in darkness and in silence till past midnight, when a 
party of mounted men cautiously approached the Ameri- 
can works, hoping for an easy victory; but, to their dis- 
may, the whole garrison lighted up the darkness of the 
night, and showed the way by the blaze of their muskets ; 
but the enemy declined advancing nearer, and, practising 
" the better part of valor," retired in confusion to their 
main body. 

During the course of the war, it was generally found 
that the tract of country which was the immediate theatre 
of operations, was infested by armed bands of men styled 
skinners, who assumed the character of either party, as 
circumstances required, and made the politics of every 
rich whig or tory the ostensible cause of every species 
of rapine. 

A prominent tory, whose house had one night been 



464 



THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 



plundered, in the morning sent his son to inform Colonel 
Burr of the event. The young man made his way, by a se- 
cret path, to the tent of Colonel Burr, thus violating the 
rules of the camp, for which the colonel promptly punished 
him, and sent a party of men to secure the robbers. In a 
few hours they were found, compelled to restore their 
plunder, to pay a heavy fine, to receive ten lashes each, 
and to leave the state, with what skin they had left. 

But the military career of Colonel Burr was now draw- 
ing to a close. His health, which had always been deli- 
cate, now gave way under the excessive fatigue of the 
duties of the camp, and compelled him to resign his com- 
mission ; and, through the inefficiency of his successor, the 
regiment, which he had taught never to surrender with 
arms in their hands, was surprised, the greater part, with 
their commander, destroyed, and the rest taken prisoners. 
On leaving the army, Colonel Burr resumed the study 
of law, and was admitted to the bar at Albany, whence he 
removed to New York, and soon became the successful 
competitor of General Hamilton, who was then at the head 
of the bar. 

At the close of the presidential term of the elder Ad 
ams, no choice of a successor was made by the people, 
and the matter came into the House of Representatives. 
Jefferson and Burr, of the same political party, were the 
rival candidates, with an equal number of votes. After 
thirty-six balloting s, Mr. Burr voluntarily yielded to his 
rival, and Mr. Jefferson became president ; and Mr. Burr, by 
the law then existing, became vice-president of the United 
States. But so violent had been the contest, that Mr. 
Jefferson never forgave the man who had so nearly defeat- 
ed his election. In all his succeeding career, Mr. Burr 
found himself hedged in by the machinations of his power- 
ful rival ; so that, by the efforts of Mr. Jefferson in one 
party, and of Mr. Hamilton in the other, Mr. Burr soon lost 
his political influence. 

In the course of a state election in New York, a letter 
of Dr. Cooper was published containing the following ex- 
pression — " I could detail to you a still more despicable 
opinion that General Hamilton has expressed of Mr. 
Burr." 



SELECT LIVES. 465 

The hostility of these prominent individuals had now 
arrived at the highest point ; all attempts to effect a recon- 
ciliation failed, and a duel at Hoboken resulted in the 
death of Hamilton and in the flight of Burr, disgraced by 
a coroner's verdict of " wilful murder." 

About the same time, there were strong expectations of 
a war between the United States and Spain. 

General Wilkinson, Colonel Burr, and others, formed a 
plan of operations against Mexico in case of war. But 
General Wilkinson became alarmed at the change of af- 
fairs, forsook his associates, and took measures to defeat 
the very scheme that he had originated, and with the Mex- 
ican government made a merit of having defeated it, 
claiming for his services a large reward, while Colonel 
Burr was stigmatized as a traitor to his country, and tried 
for his life. No proof to substantiate the charge was found 
against him, and he was therefore acquitted. 

Colonel Burr now embarked for England, to mature a 
project of effecting a revolution in South America ; but, 
failing in his expectations of aid from England, he applied 
to Bonaparte, yet with no better success, and returned to 
his own country. He reestablished an office in New 
York, where he continued to practise law till his death, 
which occurred April 14, 1836, in the 81st year of his 
age. 

CLINTON, JAMES, was born in 1736, at the resi- 
dence of his father, in Ulster county, New York. He dis- 
played an early inclination for a military life, and held 
successively several offices in the militia and provincial 
troops. During the French war, he exhibited many proofs 
of courage, and received the appointment of captain-com- 
mandant of the four regiments levied for the protection of 
the western frontiers of the counties of Ulster and Orange. 
In 1775, he was appointed colonel of the third regiment 
of New York forces, and in the same year marched with 
Montgomery to Quebec. During the war, he rendered 
eminent services to his country, and, on the conclusion of it, 
retired to enjoy repose on his ample estates. He was, how- 
ever, frequently called from retirement by the unsolicited 
voice of his fellow-citizens; and was a member of the 



466 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

Convention for the adoption of the present constitution of 
the United States. He died in 1812. 

CLINTON, GEORGE, vice-president of the United 
States, was born in the county of Ulster, New York, in 
1739, and was educated to the profession of the law. In 
1768, he was chosen to a seat in the colonial assembly, 
and was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress in 
1775. In 1776, he was appointed brigadier-general of 
the militia of Ulster county, and some time after a briga- 
dier in the army of the United States, and continued, 
during the progress of the war, to render important ser- 
vices to the military department. In April, 1777, he was 
elected both governor and lieutenant-governor of New 
York, and was continued in the former office for eighteen 
years. He was unanimously chosen president of the Con- 
vention which assembled at Poughkeepsie, in 1788, to de- 
liberate on the new federal constitution. In 1801, he 
again accepted the office of governor, and, after continuing 
in that capacity for three years, he was elevated to the 
vice-presidency of the United States — a dignity which he 
retained till his death, at Washington, in 1812. In private, 
he was kind and amiable, and as a public man, he is enti- 
tled to respectful remembrance. 

CLINTON, DE WITT, was born in 1769, at Little 
Britain, in Orange county, New York. He was educated 
at Columbia College, commenced the study of the law, and 
was admitted to the bar, but was never much engaged in 
professional practice. He early imbibed a predilection 
for political life, and was appointed the private secretary 
of his uncle, George Clinton, then governor of the state. 
In 1797, he was sent to the legislature from the city of 
New York, and two years after was chosen a member of 
the state Senate. In 1801, he was appointed a senator of 
the United States, and continued in that capacity for two 
sessions. He retired from the Senate in 1803, in conse- 
quence of his election to the mayoralty of New York — an 
office to which he was annually reelected, with the inter- 
mission of but two years, till 1815, when he was obliged 
to retire by the violence of party politics. In 1817, he 
was elected, almost unanimously, governor of the state, 



SELECT LIVES. 467 

was again chosen in 1820, but in 1822 declined being a 
candidate for reelection. In 1810, Mr. Clinton had been 
appointed, by the Senate of his state, one of the board of 
canal commissioners ; but, the displeasure of his political 
opponents having been excited, he was removed from this 
office in 1823, by a vote of both branches of the legis- 
lature. This insult created a strong reaction in popular 
feeling, and Mr. Clinton was immediately nominated for 
governor, and elected by an unprecedented majority. In 
1826, he was again elected, but he died before the com- 
pletion of his term. He expired very suddenly, while 
sitting in his library, after dinner, February. 11, 1828. 
Mr. Clinton was not only eminent as a statesman, but he 
occupied a conspicuous rank as a man of learning. He 
was a member of a large part of the benevolent, literary, 
and scientific societies of the United States, and an hon- 
orary member of several foreign societies. His pro- 
ductions are numerous, consisting of his speeches and 
messages to the state legislature; his discourses before 
various institutions ; his speeches in the Senate of the 
Union; his addresses to the army during the late war; his 
communications concerning the canal; his judicial opin- 
ions; and various fugitive pieces. His national services 
were of the highest importance; and the Erie Canal, 
especially, — though the honor of projecting it may belong 
to another, — will remain a perpetual monument of the pa- 
triotism and perseverance of Clinton. 

CABOT, GEORGE, was born in Salem, Massachu- 
setts, in the year 1752, and spent the early part of his life 
in the employment of a shipmaster. He possessed a vig- 
orous and inquisitive mind, and took advantage of every 
opportunity of improvement and acquisition, even amid 
the restlessness and danger of a seafaring life. Before he 
was twenty-six years of age, he was elected a member of 
the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, which met with 
the visionary project of establishing a maximum in the 
prices of provision. There he displayed that sound sense, 
and that acquaintance with the true principles of political 
economy, for which he afterwards became so much dis- 
tinguished. Mr. Cabot was a member of the state Con- 
vention assembled to deliberate on the adoption of the 



468 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

federal constitution, and in 1790 was elected to a seat in 
the Senate of the United States. Of this body he became 
one of the most distinguished members, and enjoyed the 
unlimited confidence and friendship of Hamilton and 
Washington. In 1808, he became a member of the Coun- 
cil of Massachusetts, and, in 18] 4, was appointed a delegate 
to the Convention which met at Hartford, and was chosen 
to preside over its deliberations. He died at Boston, in 
1823, at the age of seventy-two years. He possessed a 
mind of great energy and penetration, and in private life 
was much loved and esteemed. As a public man, he was 
pure and disinterested,, of high sagacity and persuasive 
eloquence. His favorite studies were political economy 
and the science of government. 

CHAMPE, JOHN, a soldier in the American revo- 
lution, was born in Loudon county, Virginia. In the year 
1776, he was appointed a sergeant-major in Lee's regiment 
of cavalry, and, after the discovery of Arnold's treason, was 
employed by Washington in a service of much danger and 
difficulty ; this was, to visit the British army as a deserter, 
in order to ascertain if any other American officers were 
engaged in that conspiracy, and to secure, if possible, the 
person of Arnold. In the latter object of his enterprise he 
unfortunately failed ; but he effected his own escape in 
safety, and returned to his companions. Washington 
treated him munificently, and presented him with his dis- 
charge from further service, lest, in the vicissitudes of 
war, he should fall into the hands of the enemy, and perish 
upon a gibbet. He died in Kentucky, about the year 
1797. 

CRAIK, JAMES, was born in Scotland, where he re- 
ceived his education for the medical service of the British 
army. He came to the colony of Virginia in early life, 
and accompanied Washington in his expeditions against 
the French and Indians in 1754, and in the following 
year attended Braddock in his march through the wil- 
derness, and assisted in dressing his wounds. At the 
commencement of the revolution, by the aid of his early 
and fast friend, General Washington, he was transferred 
to the medical department in the continental army, and 
rose to the first rank and distinction. He continued in 



SELECT LIVES. 469 

the army to the end of the war, and was present at the 
surrender of Cornwallis, on the memorable 19th of Octo- 
ber, 1781. After the cessation of hostilities, he removed 
to the neighborhood of Mount Vernon, and, in 1798, was 
once more appointed by Washington to his former station 
in the medical staff. He was present with his illustrious 
friend in his last moments, and died in 1814, in the 
eighty-fourth year of his age. He was a skilful and suc- 
cessful physician, and Washington mentioned him as " my 
compatriot in arms, my old and intimate friend." 

CUSHING, THOMAS, was born at Boston, in 1725, 
educated at Cambridge College, where he was graduated in 
1744. He engaged early in public life, and, in 1763, was 
chosen speaker of the General Court of Massachusetts, 
and continued in the office for several consecutive years. 
Though patriotic in his principles, he was by no means 
violent, and by his intervention much good was effected 
between the contending parties. He was a member of 
the two first Continental Congresses, and, on his return to 
his state, was chosen a member of the Council. He was 
also appointed judge of the Courts of Common Pleas and 
of Probate ; and, on the adoption of the present consti- 
tution, he was elected lieutenant-governor of the state, 
and continued so until his death, in 1788. 

COOKE, ELISHA, a physician of Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, was graduated at Harvard College, in 1657. He 
distinguished himself by his vigorous efforts in advocating 
popular rights, during the contentions between the legis- 
lature of the colony and the royal governors. In 1689, he 
went to England as agent of Massachusetts, to procure the 
restoration of the charter. He was bold and patriotic, and 
possessed much strength of intellect. After holding va- 
rious important offices in the province, he died in 1715. 
— Elisha, son of the preceding, and also distinguished in 
the early political contentions of the province, was grad- 
uated at Harvard College, in 1697, held several public 
offices, and died in 1737. 

CRAFTS, WILLIAM, a lawyer and miscellaneous 

writer, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1787, 

He received his education at Harvard College, and studied 

law in his native city, where he acquired some reputation 

40 



470 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

for talent and eloquence. He was a member of the South 
Carolina legislature, and for some time editor of the 
Charleston Courier. He died at Lebanon Springs, New 
York, in 1826. A collection of his works, comprising 
poems, essays in prose, and orations, with a biographical 
memoir, was published in Charleston, in 1828. 

CADWALADER, JOHN, was born in Philadelphia, 
and rose to the rank of brigadier-general in the American 
army during the revolutionary war. He was a man of in- 
flexible courage, and possessed in a high degree the es- 
teem and confidence of Washington. In 1778, he was ap- 
pointed by Congress general of cavalry, an appointment 
which he declined on the score of being more useful in 
the situation he then occupied. After the war, he was a 
member of the Assembly of Maryland, and died in 1786, 
in the forty-fourth year of his age. 

CLARKE, GEORGE ROGERS, colonel in the ser- 
vice of Virginia, against the Indians in the revolutionary 
war, distinguished himself greatly in that post, and ren- 
dered efficient service to the inhabitants of the frontiers. 
In 1779, he descended the Ohio, and built Fort Jefferson 
on the eastern bank of the Mississippi; in 1781, he re- 
ceived a general's commission. He died in 1817, at his 
seat near Louisville, Kentucky. 

DECATUR, STEPHEN, a distinguished officer in 
the navy of the United States, was born in Maryland, 
in 1779, and received his education in Philadelphia. 
He entered the navy in 1798, and first distinguished 
himself, when in the rank of lieutenant, by the de- 
struction of the American frigate Philadelphia, which 
had run upon a rock in the harbor of Tripoli, and fallen 
into the hands of the enemy. For this exploit, the 
American Congress gave him a vote of thanks and a 
sword, and the president immediately sent him a cap- 
taincy. At the bombardment of Tripoli, the next year, 
he distinguished himself by the capture of two of the 
enemy's boats, which were moored along the mouth of 
the harbor, and immediately under the batteries. When 
peace was concluded with Tripoli, Decatur returned home 
in the Congress, and afterward succeeded Commodore 
Barron in the command of the Chesapeake. In the late 



SELECT LIVES. 471 

war between Great Britain and the United States, his 
chief exploit was the capture of the British frigate Mace- 
donian, commanded by Captain Carden. In January, 
1815, he attempted to sail from New York, which was 
then blockaded by four British ships ; but the frigate 
under his command was injured in passing the bar, and 
was captured by the whole squadron, after a running fight 
of two or three hours. He was restored to his country 
after the conclusion of peace. In the summer of the same 
year, he was sent with a squadron to the Mediterranean, in 
order to compel the Algerines to desist from their depre- 
dations on American commerce. He arrived at Algiers 
on the twenty-eighth of June, and, in less than forty-eight 
hours, terrified the regency into an entire accession to all 
his terms. Thence he went to Tripoli, where he met with 
like success. On returning to the United States, he was 
appointed a member of the board of commissioners for the 
navy, and held that office till March, 1820, when he was 
shot in a duel with Commodore Barron. He was a man 
of an active and powerful frame, and possessed a high de- 
gree of energy, sagacity, and courage. 

DICKINSON, JOHN, a celebrated political writer, 
was born in Maryland, in 1732, and educated in Delaware. 
He pursued the study of law, and practised with success in 
Philadelphia. He was soon elected to the state legislature, 
and distinguished himself as an early and efficient advocate 
of colonial rights. In 1765, he was appointed by Pennsyl- 
vania a delegate to the first Congress, held at New York, 
and prepared the draught of the bold resolutions of that body. 
His celebrated Farmer's Letters to the inhabitants of the 
British colonies were issued in Philadelphia, in 1767; they 
were reprinted in London, with a preface by Dr. Franklin, 
and a French translation of them was published at Paris. 
While in Congress, he wrote a large number of the most 
able and eloquent state papers of the time, and as an orator 
he had few superiors in that assembly. He conscientiously 
opposed the declaration of independence, and his opin- 
ions upon this subject rendered him for a time unpopular, 
but they did not permanently affect his reputation and in- 
fluence. He was afterwards a member of Congress, and 
president of Pennsylvania and Delaware, successively. 



472 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

He died at Wilmington, in 1808. Mr. Dickinson was a 
man of a strong mind, great knowledge and eloquence, 
and much elegance of taste and manners. 

DALE, RICHARD, an American naval commander, 
was born in Virginia, 1756. At twelve years of age, he 
was sent to sea, and in 1777 he entered as a midshipman 
on board of the American brig of war Lexington. In the 
following year, he was taken prisoner by a British cruiser, 
and after a twelve months' confinement, he escaped from 
Mill Prison, and succeeded in reaching France. Here he 
joined, in the character of master's mate, the celebrated 
Paul Jones, then commanding the American ship Bon 
Homme Richard. He was soon raised to the rank of 
first lieutenant, and signalized himself in the sanguinary 
engagement between the Bon Homme Richard and the 
English frigate Serapis. In 1794, the United States made 
him a captain in the navy, and in 1801 he took command 
of the American squadron which sailed in that year from 
Hampton Roads to the Mediterranean. From the year 
1802, he passed his life in Philadelphia, in the enjoyment 
of a competent estate, and much esteemed by his fellow- 
citizens. He died in 1826, leaving the reputation of a 
brave and intelligent seaman. 

ELLSWORTH, OLIVER, an American judge and 
statesman, was born at Windsor, Connecticut, in 1745, 
and was graduated at the college of Nassau Hall, at 
Princeton, in 1766. Devoting himself to the practice of 
the law, he soon rose to distinction by the energy of his 
mind and his eloquence. From the earliest period of dis- 
content, he joined the cause of the colonies, and in 1777 
was elected a member of the Continental Congress. In 
this body he remained for three years ; and in 1784 he was 
appointed a judge of the Superior Court of the state. He 
was a delegate to the Convention for framing the federal 
constitution, and was a senator in the first Congress. In 
1796, he was appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court 
of the United States, and in 1799 was sent envoy extraor- 
dinary to France. The decline of his health induced him 
to resign his seat on the bench, and he retired to his 
family residence at Windsor, where he died in 1807. 

EATON, WILLIAM, general in the service of the 



SELECT LIVES. 473 

United States, was born in Woodstock, Connecticut, in 
1764, and was graduated at Dartmouth College, in 1790. 
In 1792, he received a captain's commission in the army, 
and served for some time under General Wayne, on the 
Mississippi and in Georgia. In 1797, he was appointed 
consul to the kingdom of Tunis, and continued there 
engaged in a variety of adventures and negotiations, till 
1803, when he returned to the United States. In 1804, 
he was appointed navy agent for the Barbary powers, for 
the purpose of cooperating with Hamet Bashaw in the war 
against Tripoli, but was disappointed by the conclusion 
of a premature peace between the American consul and 
the Tripolitan bashaw. On his return to the United 
States, he failed in obtaining from the government any 
compensation for his pecuniary losses, or any employment 
corresponding with his merit and services. Under the in- 
fluence of bis disappointments, he fell into habits of in- 
ebriety, and died in 1811. His Life, published by one of 
his friends in Massachusetts, is full of interesting ad- 
venture. 

FULTON, ROBERT, an American engineer and pro- 
jector, was born, in 1765, at Little Britain, in Pennsyl- 
vania. Abandoning the trade of a jeweller, he studied for 
some years under West, with the intention of being a 
painter ; but, having become acquainted with a fellow- 
countryman named Rumsey, who was skilled in mechan- 
ics, he became fond of that science, and ultimately adopted 
the profession of a civil engineer. Before he left England, 
he published, in 1796, a treatise On Inland Navigation, in 
which he proposed to supersede locks by inclined planes. 
In 1800, he introduced, with much profit to himself, the 
panorama into the French capital For some years, he 
was engaged in experiments to perfect a machine called a 
torpedo, intended to destroy ships of war by explosion. 
After his return to America, he gave to the world an ac- 
count of several inventions, among which are a machine 
for sawing and polishing marble, another for rope-making, 
and a boat to be navigated under water. He obtained a 
patent for his inventions in navigation by steam in 1809, 
and another for some improvements in 1811. In 1814, 
he contrived an armed steam ship for the defence of the 
40* 



474 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN,, 

harbor of New York, and a submarine vessel large enough 
to carry one hundred men ; the plans of which being ap- 
proved by government, he was authorized to construct 
them at the public expense. But before completing either 
of those works, he died suddenly in 1815. Though not 
the inventor of it, he was the first who successfully em- 
ployed the steam engine in navigation. 

GORE, CHRISTOPHER, governor of Massachusetts, 
was born in Boston, in 1758, and received his early in- 
struction in the public schools of that town. He was 
graduated at Harvard College, in 1776, and soon after com- 
menced the study of the law. When he entered on the 
practice of his profession, he rose rapidly in public esteem 
as a lawyer, a politician, and an honest man. At the age 
of thirty, he was sent by his fellow-citizens, with Hancock 
and Samuel Adams, to the state Convention which consid- 
ered the adoption of the national constitution. In 1789, 
he was appointed, by Washington, the first United States' 
attorney for the district of Massachusetts, and, in 1796, 
one of the commissioners, under the fourth article of Jay's 
treaty, to settle our claims for spoliations. He remained 
abroad in the public service for about eight years, and, on 
his return, was welcomed home with the strongest marks 
of public favor. Having held seats in the state Senate and 
the House of Representatives, he was chosen, in 1809, gov- 
ernor of Massachusetts, but retained this dignity only one 
year. In 1814, he was appointed senator to Congress, and 
served in this capacity about three years, when he with- 
drew into final retirement. He died in 1827. Mr. Gore 
was a useful member of several important literary asso- 
ciations. To the American Academy, and the Massa 
chusetts Historical Society, he left valuable bequests ; and 
he made Harvard College, of which institution he had 
been some years a fellow, his residuary legatee. He was 
a man of a clear, acute, and discriminating mind. 

GORDON, WILLIAM, an historian of the American 
revolution, was born in England, and settled, at an early 
age, pastor of an independent church at Ipswich. In 
1770, he came to America, and soon after settled in Rox- 
bury. In 1776, he began the collection of materials for 
the history of the revolution, and at the close of the war 



SELECT LIVES, 475 

he repaired to England and published them. He died at 
Ipswich, in 1807. 

GREENE, SAMUEL, was the first printer in North 
America. The first thing printed was the Freeman's 
Oath, in 1639, the next an almanac, and the third the 
New England version of the Psalms, in 1640. The time 
of his death is unknown. 

GREENE, NATHANIEL, major-general in the army 
of the United States, was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, 
in 1742. Though enjoying very few advantages of edu- 
cation, he displayed an early fondness for knowledge, and 
devoted his leisure time assiduously to study. In 1770, 
he was elected a member of the state legislature, and in 
1774 enrolled himself as a private in a company called the 
Kentish Guards. From this situation he was elevated to 
the head of three regiments, with the title of major-gen- 
eral. In 1776, he accepted from Congress a commission 
of brigadier-general, and soon after, at the battles of Tren- 
ton and Princeton, distinguished himself by his skill and 
bravery. In 1778, he was appointed quartermaster-gen- 
eral, and in that office rendered efficient service to the 
country by his unwearied zeal and great talents for busi- 
ness. He presided at the court-martial which tried Major 
Andre, in 1780, and was appointed to succeed Arnold in 
the command at West Point ; but he held this post only a 
few days. In December of the same year, he assumed the 
command of the southern army, and in this situation dis- 
played a prudence, intrepidity, and firmness, which raised 
him to an elevated rank among our revolutionary generals. 
In September, 1781, he obtained the famous victory at 
Eutaw Springs, for which he received from Congress a 
British standard and a gold medal, as a testimony of their 
value of his conduct and services. On the termination of 
hostilities, he returned to Rhode Island, and in 1785 re- 
moved with his family to Georgia, where he died suddenly 
in June of the following year. He was a man of high en- 
ergy, courage, and ability, and possessed the entire con- 
fidence of Washington. 

GAGE, THOMAS, the last governor of Massachusetts 
appointed by the king, first came to America, as a lieu- 
tenant, with Braddock, and was present at the battle in 



476 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

which that officer received his mortal wound. He was 
appointed governor of Montreal in 1760, and in 1763 
succeeded General Amherst as commander-in-chief of the 
British forces in North America. In 1774, he succeeded 
Hutchinson as governor of Massachusetts, when he soon 
began the course of illegal and oppressive acts that brought 
on the war of the revolution. In 1775, the Provincial 
Congress of Massachusetts declared him an enemy to the 
colony ; and, not long after, he returned to England, where 
he died in 1787. 

GADSDEN, CHRISTOPHER, a patriot of the Ameri- 
can revolution, was born in South Carolina, in the year 
1724. In 1765, he was a member of the Congress which 
was convened at New York, for the purpose of petitioning 
against the stamp act, and again of that which assembled 
in 1774. He remained in Charleston during the siege in 
1780. In 1782, he was elected governor of his native 
state, but declined the office on account of the infirmities 
of age. He died in 1805. 

GOOKIN, DANIEL, a major-general of Massachu- 
setts, was born in England, and in 1621 emigrated to 
Virginia. In 1644, he removed to New England, and 
was appointed superintendent of all the Indians who had 
submitted to the government of Massachusetts. In 16S1, 
he received the appointment of major-general of the prov- 
ince. He died in 1687, at the age of seventy-five. He 
left in manuscript historical collections of New England 
Indians, which were published in the first volume of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society. He also left in man- 
uscript a history of New England. 

HAWLEY, JOSEPH, a patriot of the American revo- 
lution, was born at Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1724, 
and, after graduating at Yale College, in 1742, pursued the 
profession of the law in his native town. He soon rose to 
distinction and extensive practice ; but, by the efforts of the 
friends of the British administration, he was afterwards for 
a short time excluded from the bar. He was one of the 
first who proposed to resist British encroachments by 
force, and he continued through his life to be an active 
and efficient advocate of the rights of his country. He 
died in 1788 



SELECT LIVES. 477 

HENRY, PATRICK, an American orator and states- 
man, was born in Virginia, in 1736, and, after receiving a 
common school education, and spending some time in 
trade and agriculture, commenced the practice of the law, 
after only six weeks of preparatory study. After several 
years of poverty, with the encumbrance of a family, he first 
rose to distinction in managing the popular cause in the 
controversy between the legislature and the clergy, touch- 
ing the stipend which was claimed by the latter. In 1765, 
he was elected a member of the House of Burgesses, with 
express reference to an opposition to the British stamp act. 
In this assembly he obtained the honor of being the first 
to commence the opposition to the measures of the British 
government, which terminated in the revolution. He was 
one of the delegates sent by Virginia to the first General 
Congress of the colonies, in 1774, and in that body dis- 
tinguished himself by his boldness and eloquence. In 
1776, he was appointed the first governor of the common- 
wealth, and to this office was repeatedly reelected. In 
1786, he was appointed by the legislature one of the dep- 
uties to the Convention held at Philadelphia, for the 
purpose of revising the federal constitution. In 1788, he 
was a member of the Convention which met in Virginia 
to consider the constitution of the United States, and ex- 
erted himself strenuously against its adoption. In 1794 
he retired from the bar, and died in 1799. Without ex- 
tensive information upon legal or political topics, he was 
a natural orator of the highest order, possessing great 
powers of imagination, sarcasm, and humor, united with 
great force and energy of manner, and a deep knowledge 
of human nature. 

HOWARD, JOHN EAGER, an officer of the army of 
the American revolution, was born in Baltimore, in 1752. 
After serving in the rank of captain, in 1779, he was 
appointed lieutenant-colonel, and distinguished himself by 
his valor and activity during the war. At the battle of 
Cowpens, Colonel Howard, at one time, had in his hands 
the swords of seven officers who had surrendered to him 
personally. He was also present at the battles of German- 
town, White Plains, Monmouth, Camden, and Hobkirks 
Hill. On the disbanding of the army, he retired to his 



478 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

patrimonial estates, near Baltimore, and was subsequently 
governor of Maryland, and member of the Senate of the 
United States. He died in 1827. General Greene said 
of him, that, as a patriot and soldier, he deserved a statue 
of gold no less than Roman and Grecian heroes. 

HEATH, WILLIAM, an officer in the army of the 
revolution, was born in Roxbury, in 1737, and was bred a 
farmer. He was particularly attentive to the study of 
military tactics, and in 1775 he was commissioned as a 
brigadier-general by the Provincial Congress. In 1776, he 
was promoted to the rank of major-general in the conti- 
nental army, and in the campaign of that year commanded 
a division near the enemy's lines, at King's Bridge and 
Morrisania. During the year 1777, and till November, 
1778, he was the commanding officer of the eastern de- 
partment, and his head-quarters were at Boston. In 1779, 
he returned to the main army, and was invested with the 
chief command of the troops on the east side of the Hud- 
son. After the close of the war, he served in several pub- 
lic offices, till the time of his death, in 1814. 

HAMILTON, ALEXANDER, was born in the 
Island of Nevis, in 1757. At the age of sixteen, he ac- 
companied his mother to New York, and was placed at 
Columbia College, where he soon gave proof of extraordi- 
nary talent, by the publication of some political essays, of 
such strength and sagacity that they were generally attrib- 
uted to Mr. Jay. At the age of nineteen, he entered the 
American army, and in 1777 was appointed aid-de-camp 
of Washington, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 
this capacity he served during the remainder of the war, 
and, at the siege of Yorktown, led in person the de- 
tachment that carried by assault one of the enemy's out- 
works. After the war, he commenced the study of the law, 
entered into its practice in New York, and soon rose to 
distinction. In 1782, he was chosen a member of Congress 
from the state of New York; in 1787, a member of the 
Convention which formed the constitution of the United 
States, and in 1787 and 1788 wrote, in connection with 
Mr. Jay and Mr. Madison, the essays published under the 
title of the Federalist. In 1789, he was placed by Wash- 
ington at the head of the treasury department, and, 



SELECT £IVES. 479 

while in this situation, rendered the most efficient service 
to the country by the establishment of an admirable 
system of finance, which raised public credit from the 
lowest depression to an unprecedented height. In 1795, 
he retired from office, in order to secure, by his profes- 
sional labors, a more ample provision for his numerous 
family. In 1798, his public services were again required, 
to take the second command in the army that was raised 
on account of the apprehended invasion of the French. 
On the disbanding of the army, he resumed the practice 
of the law in New York, and continued to acquire new 
success and reputation. In 1804, he fell in a duel with 
Colonel Burr, vice-president of the United States, and 
died universally lamented and beloved. Besides his share 
in the Federalist, General Hamilton was the author of 
numerous congressional reports, the essays of Pacificus, 
and the essays of Phocion. A collection of his works in 
three vols. 8vo. was issued at New York some time after 
his death. He was a man of transcendent abilities and 
unsullied integrity, and no one labored more efficiently 
in the organization of the present federal government. 

HUMPHREYS, DAVID, minister of the United States 
to the court of Spain, was born in Connecticut, in 1753, 
and received his education at Yale College. Soon after 
the commencement of the revolutionary war, he entered 
the army, and was successively an aid to Parsons, Putnam, 
Greene, and Washington. He left the army with the rank 
of colonel. In 1784, he was appointed secretary of lega- 
tion to Paris, and was subsequently ambassador to the 
court of Lisbon, and in 1797 minister plenipotentiary to 
the court of Madrid. While in the military service, he 
published a poem addressed to the American armies, and, 
niter the war, another on the happiness and glory of 
America. In 1789, he published a life of General Putnam, 
and, while in Europe, a number of miscellaneous poems. 
He died in 1818. 

HUTCHINS, THOMAS, was born in New Jersey, 
and entered the army in the Western States as an ensign. 
In 1779, he was in England, and was imprisoned some time 
on suspicion of holding a correspondence with Franklin 
in France. He was nominated geographer-general to the 



480 THE AMER^AN POLITICIAN. 

United States, and died at Pittsburg, in 1789. He pub- 
lished an historical sketch of the expedition of Bouquet 
against the Indians of Ohio, in 1764 ; a topographical de- 
scription of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Caro- 
lina, with maps, (London, 1778 ;) an historical account of 
Louisiana, &,c, (1784.) 

HUTCHINSON, THOMAS, a governor of the colony 
of Massachusetts, was born in Boston, in 1711, and was 
graduated at Harvard College. He was for a while occu- 
pied with commercial pursuits, but soon engaged in the 
study of law and politics, and was sent agent to Great Brit- 
ain. On his return, he was elected a representative, and 
after a few years was chosen speaker of the house, and in 
1752 judge of probate. After being a member of the 
Council, lieutenant-governor, and chief justice, in 1771 he 
received his commission as governor of Massachusetts. In 
1774, he was removed from his office, and was succeeded 
by General Gage. He then repaired to England, fell into 
disgrace, and died in retirement in 1780. He is the 
author of a valuable history of Massachusetts, some occa- 
sional essays, and a pamphlet on colonial claims. It is 
said that no man contributed more effectually to bring 
about the separation between the colonies and Great Brit- 
ain than Hutchinson. 

JAY, JOHN, was born in the city of New York, in 
1745. He was graduated at Columbia College, in 1764, 
and in 1768 was admitted to the bar. He soon rose to 
eminence as a lawyer, and began to take an active part in 
politics. In 1774, he was elected a delegate to the first 
Congress. In May, 1776, he was recalled from Congress 
by the Provincial Convention, to aid in forming the gov- 
ernment for the province ; and to this it is owing that his 
name does not appear among the signers of the Declaration 
of Independence. Upon the organization of the state 
government, in 1777, Mr. Jay was appointed chief justice, 
and held this office till 1779. In November, 1778, he was 
again chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress, and, 
three days after taking his seat, was elected president of 
that venerable body. In September, 1779, he was ap- 
pointed minister plenipotentiary to the court of Spain, 
and he arrived at Cadiz in January of the following year. 



SELECT LIVES. 481 

Having resigned his commission as minister in 1783, in 
1784 he returned to the United States, and was placed at 
the head of the department for foreign affairs. In this post 
he remained till the adoption of the present constitution, 
when he was appointed chief justice of the United States. 
In 1794, he was sent as envoy extraordinary to Great Brit- 
ain, and before his return, in 1795, he had been elected 
governor of his native state. In 1798, he was reelected to 
this office, and in 1801, went into voluntary retirement. 
The remainder of his life was passed in the faithful dis- 
charge of the charitable duties, and he was publicly 
known only by the occasional appearance of his name, or 
the employment of his pen, in the service of philanthropy 
and piety. He died in 1829. Besides a variety of state 
papers and political essays, Mr. Jay was the author of the 
2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, and 64th numbers of the Federalist. 

JONES, JOHN PAUL, a native of Scotland, was 
born, in 1747, at Selkirk, and settled in America when 
young. He distinguished himself by his bravery in the 
American service, during the contest with the mother 
country, particularly in a desperate action with the Serapis 
frigate, which he captured. He died in Paris, in 1792, and 
was buried at the expense of the National Convention. 
Jones was not only a man of signal courage, but also of 
great talent, and keen sagacity, wrote poetry, and in 
Fra.nce aspired to be a man of fashion. His memorials 
and correspondence are quite voluminous. 

JOHNSON, Sir WILLIAM, a military officer, who 
served with distinction in North Carolina, was born in 
Ireland, about the year 1714. Early in life he came to 
America, and settled on the Mohawk, and carried on an 
extensive traffic with the Indians. In 1755, he command- 
ed the provincial troops of New York in the expedition 
against Crown Point, and for his services received from 
the House of Commons the gift of ^5000, and from the 
king the title of baronet. He died in 1774. He was 
shrewd, brave, and successful. 

JACKSON, JAMES, an officer in the army of the 

American revolution, was born in England, in 1757. In 

1772, he emigrated to America, and settled in Georgia. 

He served with distinction during the war, and displayed 

41 



482 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

much intrepidity. On the disbanding of the army, he 
commenced the practice of the law, to which he had been 
educated, in Georgia, and soon obtained a lucrative amount 
of business. After having been a member of the state 
legislature, and successively colonel, brigadier-general, and 
major-general, in the militia, he was chosen a member of 
Congress, and died in Washington, in 1806. 

KNOX, HENRY, an American general, was born in 
Boston, in 1750, and, after receiving a common school ed- 
ucation, commenced business as a bookseller in his native 
town. He took an early part in the affairs of the revolu- 
tion, and was present as a volunteer at the battle of Bunker 
Hill. For his services in procuring some pieces of ord- 
nance from the Canadian frontiers, he was intrusted by 
Congress with the command of the artillery department, 
with the rank of brigadier-general. He was present and 
displayed great skill and courage at the battles of Trenton, 
Princeton, Germantown, and Monmouth, and contributed 
greatly to the capture of Cornwallis. Immediately after 
this event, he received from Congress the commission of 
major-general. In 1785, he succeeded General Lincoln 
in the office of secretary of war, and, having filled this de- 
partment for eleven years, he obtained a reluctant permis- 
sion to retire into private life. In 1798, when our rela 
tions with France were assuming a cloudy aspect, he was 
called upon to take a command in the army; but the 
peaceful arrangement of affairs soon permitted him to re- 
turn into his retirement. He died at Thomaston, Maine, 
in 1806. In private life he was amiable, in his public 
character persevering, and of unsurpassed courage. 

LEE, ARTHUR, an eminent American patriot, was 
born in Virginia, in 1740, and received his education in 
England, taking his degree of M. D. at the University of 
Edinburgh. He then returned to his native state, and for 
some years practised physic at Williamsburg ; but political 
affairs were then assuming so interesting an aspect, that 
he again went to England, and entered on the study of law 
in the Temple. In 1770, he visited London, and became 
a member of the famous society of the supporters of the 
bill of rights. His political publications at this period, 
under the signature of Junius Americanus, were numerous, 



SELECT LIVES. 483 

and procured for him the acquaintance of the leaders of 
the popular party. In 177G, he was appointed minister to 
France, in conjunction with Dr. Franklin and Mr. Deane, 
and assisted in negotiating the treaty with that nation. In 
1779, in consequence of the false accusations of Mr. Deane, 
complaints of his political conduct were freely circulated at 
home, and in the following year he resigned his appoint- 
ments and returned. In 1781, he was elected to the As- 
sembly of Virginia, and by this body returned to Congress, 
where he continued to represent the state till 1785. In 
1784, he was employed to arrange a treaty with the six 
Indian nations. He was next called to the board of 
treasury, where he continued till 1789, when he went 
into retirement. He died in 1792. 

LEE, CHARLES, a major-general in the army of the 
American revolution, was born in North Wales, and be- 
came an officer at the age of 11 years. He served at an 
early age in America, and afterwards distinguished him- 
self under General Burgoyne, in Portugal. He subse- 
quently entered the Polish service, wandered all over 
Europe, killed an Italian officer in a duel, and in 1773 
sailed for New York. Espousing the cause of the colonies, 
he received a commission from Congress in 1775, with the 
rank of major-general. In 1776, he was invested with the 
command at New York, and afterwards with the chief 
command in the southern department. In December, 
1776, he was made prisoner by the English, as he lay, 
carelessly guarded, at a considerable distance from the 
main body of the army in New Jersey. He was kept 
prisoner till the surrender of Burgoyne, in 1777, and 
treated in a manner unworthy of a generous enemy. In 
1778, he was arraigned before a court-martial, in conse- 
quence of his misconduct at the battle of Monmouth, and 
was suspended from any commission in the army of the 
United States for one year. He retired to a hovel in Vir- 
ginia, living in entire seclusion, surrounded by his books 
and his dogs. In 1782, he went to reside at Philadelphia, 
where he died in obscurity in October of the same year. 
He was a man of much energy and courage, with consid- 
erable literary attainments, but morose and avaricious. 
He published essays on military, literary, and political 



484 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

subjects, which, with his extensive correspondence, were 
collected in a volume in 1792. The authorship of the 
Letters of Junius has been ascribed to him. 

LEE, HENRY, a distinguished officer in the Amer- 
ican revolutionary army, was born in Virginia, in 1756, 
and was graduated at the college in Princeton. In 1776 
he was a captain of one of the six companies of cavalry, 
raised by Virginia, and afterwards incorporated into one 
regiment, and in 1777 added to the main body of the pro- 
vincials. At the battle of Germantown, Lee was selected, 
with his company, to attend Washington as his body-guard. 
In 1780, being raised to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, he 
was sent, with his legion, to the army of the south, under 
General Greene, and continued with it till the end of the 
war. He distinguished himself at the battle of Eutaw 
Springs, and in the ensuing October was sent on a special 
commission to the commander-in-chief, then employed in 
the siege of Yorktown. In 1786, he was appointed a del- 
egate to Congress, from the state of Virginia, and remained 
in that body till the adoption of the present constitution. 
He was a member of the state Convention which ratified 
that instrument, and in 1792, he was raised to the chair 
of governor of Virginia. In 1799, he was again a member 
of Congress, and, while there, selected to pronounce a 
funeral oration on the death of Washington. The latter 
years of his life were embarrassed by want ; and it was 
while confined for debt in the limits of Spottsylvania 
county, that he prepared for publication his excellent Me* 
moirs of the southern campaign. He was severely wounded 
during the riot in Baltimore, in 1814, and his health rap- 
idly declined. He died on Cumberland Island, Georgia, 
in 1818. 

LINCOLN, BENJAMIN, a major-general in the Amer- 
ican army, was born in Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1733, 
and until the age of forty years was engaged in the pursuits 
of agriculture. At the commencement of the revolution, 
he was elected a member of the Provincial Congress, in 
1776 received the commission of major-general, and em- 
ployed himself vigorously to improve the discipline of the 
militia. He was second in command in the army which 
compelled the surrender of Burgoyne. On the day after 



SELECT LIVES. 485 

the battle of Stillwater, he received a dangerous wound in 
his leg, and was confined for several months by its effects. 
In the following year, he was appointed to the command 
of the southern department, and while in this post he at- 
tempted the defence of Charleston, but was compelled to 
capitulate in May, 1780. He was exchanged in Novem- 
ber, and in the spring following joined the army on the 
North River. At the siege of Yorktown, he commanded a 
central division, and shared largely in the dangers and 
honors of the day. In 1781, he was appointed secretary 
of the war department, and afterwards, on several occasions, 
commissioner to treat with the Indians. On the establish- 
ment of peace, he returned to his native state, and in 1787 
was appointed to command the troops employed in the 
suppression of the insurgents in Massachusetts. In 1788, 
he was chosen lieutenant-governor, and in the following 
year he was a member of the Convention which ratified 
the constitution of the United States. He died in IS 10. 
He was the author of several published letters and essays, 
a member of the American Academy of the Arts and 
Sciences, and president of the Society of Cincinnati of 
IVTnssR c nnspf ts 

LEWIS, MERIWETHER, a celebrated explorer, was 
born in Virginia, in 1774, and, after receiving a good 
school education, engaged in agriculture. When General 
Washington called out a body of militia in consequence 
of the discontent produced by the excise taxes, young 
Lewis entered as a volunteer, and from that situation was 
removed to the regular service. In 1803, he was sent by 
President Jefferson on an exploring expedition to the north- 
western part of our continent ; and of this expedition, which 
was completed in about three years, and in which he was 
accompanied by Mr. Clarke, a highly-interesting account 
was afterwards published. Lewis was subsequently ap- 
pointed governor of the Louisiana territory. He put an 
end to his own life in 1809. He was a man of energy, 
perseverance, and of a sound understanding. 

LAURENS, HENRY, an American patriot and states- 
man, was born at Charleston, S. C, in 1724. After re- 
ceiving a good school education, he engaged in commerce, 
and soon amassed an ample fortune. At the breaking out 



486 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

of the revolution, he was in London ; but he immediately 
returned to his native country, and in 1776 was elected a 
delegate to the General Congress. He was soon chosen 
president of this body, and remained so till the close of 
the year 1778. In 1779, he received the appointment of 
minister plenipotentiary to Holland, but on his way thither 
was captured by the British, and committed to the Tower, 
where he was in confinement fourteen months. He was 
one of the commissioners for negotiating a peace with 
Great Britain, and in 1783 he signed, with Jay and Frank- 
lin, the preliminaries of the treaty. His health, however, 
was much impaired, and he soon returned home, and passed 
the remainder of his life in agricultural pursuits. He died 
in 1792. 

LAURENS, JOHN, lieutenant-colonel, son of the pre- 
ceding, was liberally educated in England, and, having 
returned to his native country, joined the American army 
in 1777. He displayed prodigies of valor at Brandy- 
wine, Germantown, Monmouth, Savannah, and Charleston, 
and was killed, at the very close of the war, by carelessly 
exposing himself in a trifling skirmish. In 1780, he was 
sent as a special minister to France, to negotiate a loan ; 
and, after being subjected to a vexatious delay, he deter- 
mined to present a memorial to the king in person at the 
levee. This purpose he carried into effect ; the memorial 
was graciously received, and the object of negotiation 
satisfactorily arranged. 

LAWRENCE, JAMES, an officer of the American 
navy, was born in New Jersey, in 1781, and became a 
midshipman in 1798. In 1803, he was sent to the Medi- 
terranean, as first lieutenant to the schooner Enterprise, 
and, while there, distinguished himself by his activity and 
valor. He remained on this station for three years, and 
then returned to the United States, having been transferred 
to the frigate John Adams. In February, 1813, he was 
in command of the Hornet, and took the fine British brig 
Peacock, after an action of fifteen minutes. On his return 
to the United States, he was transferred to the frigate Chesa- 
peake, and in June of the same year, while engaged in 
battle with the frigate Shannon, he received a mortal 
wound. His last exclamation, as they were carrying him 



SELECT LIVES. 487 

below, was, " Don't give up the ship." He lingered in 
greit pain for four days, when he died. His remains 
were buried at Halifax. 

LIVINGSTON, ROBERT R., a celebrated American 
statesman and lawyer, was born in New York, and was 
educated at King's College. He engaged in the profession 
of the law, and was elected to the first General Congress of 
the colonies, where he was one of the committee appoint- 
ed to prepare the Declaration of Independence. In 1780, 
he was appointed secretary of foreign affairs, and, at the 
adoption of the constitution of New York, chancellor 
of that state. This last office he held till 1804, when 
he was sent minister plenipotentiary to France. It was 
in Paris that he formed a personal friendship with Robert 
Fulton, whom he materially assisted. In 1805, he re- 
turned to the United States, and devoted the remainder 
of his life to the promotion of agriculture and the arts. 
He died in 1813. 

LANGDON, JOHN, a distinguished American patriot, 
was born at Portsmouth, N. H., in 1739. He engaged in 
commerce, and took an early and efficient interest in the 
cause of the colonies. He was successively a delegate to 
the General Congress, navy agent, speaker of the Assembly 
of his native state, president of his native state, a delegate 
to the Convention that framed the federal constitution, 
and a member of the Senate of the United States. In 
1805, he was chosen governor of his state, and again in 
1810. He died in 1819. 

LLOYD, JAMES, was born in Boston, in 1769, and, 
after graduating at Harvard College, entered into com- 
mercial pursuits, and spent some time in Europe. In 1808, 
he was elected by the legislature of Massachusetts a sen- 
ator in Congress, and for five years conducted himself with 
great prudence and firmness, during a period of great po- 
litical excitement. In 1822, he was again appointed to the 
national Senate, and was distinguished for his application 
to business. In 1826, he published, at Boston, a pamphlet 
on the Report of the Committee of Commerce of the 
Senate of the United States on the British Colonial In- 
tercourse. He died at New York, in 1831. 

LOWELL, JOHN, an eminent American lawyer, was 



488 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

born at Newbury, in 1744, and was educated at Harvard 
College. He studied law, and, rising to reputation, in 
1761, he removed to Boston, and soon distinguished him- 
self by his political knowledge and eloquence, In 1781, 
he was elected a member of Congress, and, on the estab- 
lishment of the federal government, was appointed a judge 
of the Circuit Court of the United States. In these situa- 
tions he was much respected for his legal knowledge and 
dignity. He died in 1802. 

LAFAYETTE, GILBERT MOTTIER, was born in 
Auvergne, in the south of France, September 6, 1757. 
About two years after his birth, his father fell in the battle 
of Munden. The orphan was placed at the College ofDu 
Plessis, where he received a highly-finished education, and, 
in his subsequent eventful career, often gave evidence of 
the industry of his youth. At the age of seventeen, he 
married the daughter of the duke d'Ayen, son of the 
duke de Noailles. Though nursed in the bosom of afflu- 
ence, surrounded by the splendors of a proud monarchy, 
courted by the most powerful of the aristocracy, the pro- 
tege of the queen herself, he yet preserved a heart which 
responded to the cry for liberty, that, from a distant land, 
claimed sympathy among the slaves of European despots. 

He had been but two years married to one of the most 
noble, faithful, heroic women that ever blessed " the sunny 
soil of his delightful France," when he determined to for- 
sake all, and to give his fortune, his very life, if it were 
needful, to the cause of liberty in a distant land, of which 
even the name was scarce known to the proud inmates of 
the court in which he moved. He applied to the American 
agents at Paris for a passage to America, which, in their 
poverty, they were unable to supply. " Then," said he, " I 
shall purchase and fit out a vessel for myself." He did so. 
With a fortune of $25,000 per annum, he determined that 
the poverty of those whom he designed to aid, should not 
detain him. But before he could embark, he was arrested 
by some officers, sent for that purpose from the French 
court, from whom he made his escape. In the disguise of 
a postilion, with blackened face and crisped hair, he rode 
forward, and ordered horses for a coach, which he had pro- 
cured for the purpose, as if to receive him on the road, 



SELECT LIVES. 489 

which, of course, should the officers overtake it, would at- 
tract their chief attention. He thus arrived in safety at 
Passage, when he immediately put to sea. He requested 
the captain to steer at once to some port in the United 
States, and, on his refusing to do so, through fear of the 
French and British cruisers, Lafayette first gave him a 
bond for 40,000 francs, and then threatened that, if further 
delay occurred, he would have him put in irons, and give 
the command of his vessel to the mate. The captain 
yielded, and they arrived in safety at Charleston, S. C, 
April 25, 1777. 

His arrival was to the astonished Americans the star of 
hope, the joyful omen of ultimate success. A short time 
before, it had seemed to them that the last embers of ex- 
piring liberty were to be trodden out on the plains of New 
Jersey, and that their friends in Europe would sing the 
requiem of the martyred Washington and his high-souled 
associates. But now all eyes are turned to the illustrious 
stranger. He joins the family of their beloved chief; he 
refuses the honors of a grateful people, till he has done 
something to deserve them. He pours out his treasure like 
water, to feed, clothe, and equip a corps of two thousand 
men, at whose head, with the commission of major-general, 
he rushes into the field of strife. On the plains of Brandy- 
wine he is wounded ; with a far inferior force, he baffles 
the veteran Cornwallis, when the latter believed, and had 
announced in an intercepted letter, that " the boy could 
not escape him." 

No longer now is seen the brow of American patriots 
overcast with gloom, no longer is heard the voice of de- 
spondency ; in the enthusiasm of the youthful stranger, they 
read the hearts of European millions, they see the ap- 
proaching aid of powerful France, they read the doom 
of England's power in America. 

Having remained about two years in America, he re- 
turned to France to plead her cause, and solicited aid. 
On his arrival, he held a long conference with Maurepas, 
the French minister, but was not permitted to see the king. 

His house, nevertheless, was thronged with the elite of 
the French capital, and from every hand the cup of adula- 
tion was proffered to his acceptance. But the importance 



490 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

of his mission suffered him not to repose in careless inac- 
tivity. He labored incessantly with the French govern- 
ment to induce them to send us a fleet and troops, and, 
when he felt sure of success, he again embarked for 
America, and on his arrival announced the important intel- 
ligence to Washington. The year following, he visited 
France, to make still greater exertions in our favor. Con- 
gress passed a resolution requesting all our foreign ministers 
to confer with him in all their negotiations concerning our 
affairs. He arrived in France, and received the plaudits 
of the whole nation. Even the drama lent its aid to swell 
the popular enthusiasm. But amid the honors that were 
thus heaped upon him, he never forgot the stern duties of 
his mission, and at length succeeded in obtaining an order 
to Count d'Estaing, as soon as Lafayette should join him, 
to sail with forty-nine ships and twenty thousand men. 
But before the necessary preparations were made, he had 
the satisfaction of announcing peace, in a letter to Con- 
gress, dated in the harbor of Cadiz, February 5, 1783. 

After travelling in Prussia, he returned to France, and 
became a member of the Assembly of Notables, where he 
made a motion, which no one dared to second, calling 
for an election of representatives of the states general. In 
two years from that time, his plan was carried into effect. 
Dissatisfaction at the existing order of things continued to 
increase, and sectional jealousies arose. The people of 
Paris were indignant that the royal family chose to reside 
at Versailles, rather than at Paris, where the influence of 
the latter city might be more immediately felt. They 
mounted the blue and red cockade, to which Lafayette 
added white, the royal color, remarking, when he fixed 
it to his hat, that " it would go around the world." 

On the 5th of October, Lafayette, having learned that 
a mob of one hundred thousand ferocious men and wo- 
men had gone to Versailles, hastened, with a part of the 
National Guards, to protect the royal family. But, on ar- 
riving at Versailles, he was permitted only to occupy the 
outposts of the palace, a measure that had nearly proved 
fatal to the queen ; for in the night the populace were ad- 
mitted to the palace by private passages, and the queen had 
barely time to escape from the room, half naked, ere the 



SELECT LIVES. 491 

guard of her chamber was forced : at this moment, La- 
fayette, with some guards, rushed in and saved her. 

The Jacobin clubs found in him no supporter ; yet La- 
fayette voted for the decree abolishing titles, and re- 
nounced his own, which he never after resumed. He ad- 
vocated and procured the adoption of a representative 
constitution, when, in imitation of his great commander, 
he retired to his quiet retreat at La Grange. 

The war with Austria, in 1792, called him from this re* 
treat, and required him to resume a command in the army. 
Meanwhile, the Jacobin clubs became more violent, mak- 
ing demonstrations of designs so dangerous, that Lafayette, 
unable longer to keep silence, wrote a letter denouncing 
their designs, which was read in the National Assembly; 
and so great was their power at that time, that the letter 
was pronounced a forgery. The members could not be- 
lieve any man bold enough to dare their vengeance. But 
Lafayette appeared in the Assembly, and acknowledged the 
letter, when even the Jacobins shrank from an open contest 
with him, but set into operation the infernal machinery 
which at once laid low the loftiest heads in France. La- 
fayette foresaw the coming storm, and, attended by three 
of his officers, left the French camp, intending to pass 
through the Austrian camp, reach the frontiers of France, 
and thence embark for America. They were, however, 
arrested the first night, by the Austrian patroles, given over 
to the Prussians, and sent to Wesel, on the Rhine, thence 
to Magdeburg ; whence they were transferred to the Aus- 
trians, and finally sent to the citadel of Olmutz. Lafayette 
was told, on his entrance, that he had seen the light of day 
for the last time; that he should no more have the least 
communication with the world, or its events ; that his very 
name would be unknown to all in and around his prison ; 
that he would be mentioned in the prison reports merely by 
the number of his room, and that no intelligence of his fate 
would ever be suffered to reach his friends. For three years 
these refined cruelties were practised upon him, apparently 
with the design of breaking down his great spirit. 

But, during all this time, his friends left no means un- 
tried to discover the place of his confinement. They 
employed Count Lally Tollendal to prosecute inquiries in 



492 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

every direction. Dr. Erick Bolleman was employed as an 
agent in the business. After laboring, with no success, for 
a long time, he at length traced them to the several pris- 
ons in which they had been confined, and paused, at last, 
before the very citadel of Olmutz. Here he succeeded in 
forming an acquaintance with the surgeon of the prison, 
from whom he learned that they had one prisoner of great 
importance, respecting whom the most profound secrecy 
was preserved. After many inquiries cautiously made, 
Bolleman was convinced that he had discovered the object 
of his search. He opened a communication with the 
prisoner by means of the surgeon, and found that he was 
understood ; he also ascertained that the prisoner was al- 
lowed occasionally to ride, attended by an officer, with a 
guard behind the carriage. He communicated his project, 
based on the information he had obtained, to Mr. Francis 
K. Huger. He entered with ardor into the plan. They 
procured two saddle horses, and trained one of them to carry 
two riders. On the day appointed for making the attempt, 
they saw the carriage leave the prison, and advanced to 
meet it, exchanging signs with the prisoner as they passed. 
They soon turned, and followed the carriage at a distance, 
for several miles, till they arrived at a spot remote from 
any habitations, when Lafayette and the officer left the 
carriage, and retired to a distance from the guards. This 
was the moment selected to effect their design. They 
suddenly seized, bound, and gagged the officer, while the 
guard fled to raise the alarm at the citadel. One of the 
horses had escaped, and Lafayette was put upon the other, 
and told to go to HofF, which he unfortunately understood 
as a direction to go off This he did without any design 
or plan of escape. The other horse was soon recovered, 
and Bolleman and Huger mounted him to follow La- 
fayette ; but the animal proved intractable, and threw them 
off, after which Huger mounted alone, and rode full speed 
to Hoff, where, of course, he found not Lafayette. 

In a short time, they were all three under the roof of the 
citadel at Olmutz, where Huger was chained to the floor, 
and Lafayette was led to believe that his friends were to 
be executed before his window, and that he was reserved 
for the same fate. 



SELECT LIVES. 493 

His heroic wife and his two daughters now claimed ad- 
mission to his dungeon, which was granted only on condi- 
tion that they should never leave it. Here, literally buried 
alive, in the moist, unhealthy, and loathsome dungeon, for 
twenty-two months, they strove to sustain and cheer the 
spirits of the suffering patriot. At length the exhausted 
powers of his wife required that she should leave the dun- 
geon to save her life, and she received permission to do so, 
only on condition that she should never return — a boon 
which she indignantly refused, and then prepared to die 
with her husband. 

But now, the voice of France was heard in remonstrance 
at this outrageous treatment of a French citizen, and ne- 
gotiations were commenced to effect his liberation; which, 
after a series of protracted delays, was effected, and La- 
fayette went with his family to reside in Holstein, whence, 
in about a year, he departed for Utrecht, and returned 
thence to France. During the consulship of Napoleon, 
and under the imperial dynasty, he steadily refused all dis- 
tinction offered him, that was not derived from the con- 
sent of the French people ; refused to acknowledge the 
right of Napoleon to assume the imperial purple, and never 
failed to present to the eyes of all Europe an illustrious 
instance of disinterested patriotism, derived from the ex- 
ample of his " adored commander." After the lapse of 
nearly fifty years, he again landed on the shores of his 
adopted country. At the moment of his landing, he was 
embraced in the arms of a whole people; all sectional 
jealousies, all party animosities, were forgotten in the 
universal peal of " Welcome, Lafayette," that resounded 
from every hamlet and city in our land. European des- 
potism quailed at the sound, and from that moment Euro- 
pean serfs have less patiently endured their bondage, and 
striven to burst their chains. 

In his calm retreat at La Grange, to which the eyes of 
the whole civilized world were turned with the joy of 
demons or the sorrow of angels, the philanthropic hero, at 
the age of 77, breathed his last, May 20th, 1834. 

MORGAN, DANIEL, a distinguished officer in the 
army of the American revolution, was born in New Jersey, 
42 



494 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

and removed to Virginia in 1755. He enlisted in Brad- 
dock's expedition as a private soldier, and, on the defeat 
of that general, returned to his occupation as a farmer. 
At the commencement of the revolution, he was appointed 
to the command of a troop of horse, and joined the army 
under Washington, then in the neighborhood of Boston. 
He distinguished himself very much in the expedition 
against Quebec, where he fell into the hands of the enemy. 
On the exchange of prisoners, he rejoined the American 
army, was appointed to the command of a select rifle 
corps, and detached to assist General Gates on the north- 
ern frontier, where he contributed materially to the capture 
of General Burgoyne. After a short retirement from ser- 
vice, on account of ill health, he was appointed brigadier- 
general by brevet, and commanded the force by which 
Colonel Tarleton was routed at the battle of Cowpens. He 
soon after resigned his commission. In 1794, he com- 
manded the militia of Virginia called out to suppress the 
insurrection in Pennsylvania, and continued in the service 
till 1795. He afterwards was elected to a seat in Con- 
gress. He died in 1799. 

MORGAN, JOHN, an eminent American physician, 
was born in Philadelphia, in 1735, and was educated at 
the college in that city. He completed his medical studies 
in Europe, and, on his return in 1765, was elected profess- 
or of the theory and practice of medicine in the medical 
college in Philadelphia. In October, 1775, he was ap- 
pointed chief physician to the general hospitals of the 
American army, but in 1775, was removed on account of 
certain accusations which he afterwards proved to be en- 
tirely groundless. He died in 1789. He was the author 
of several medical treatises. 

MARION, FRANCIS, a distinguished officer in the 
American army, was born in South Carolina, in 1732, and 
first served in 1761, as lieutenant against the Cherokees. 
Soon after the commencement of the revolution, he re- 
ceived a major's commission, and, in 1780, he obtained 
that of brigadier-general. He continually surprised and 
captured parties of the British and the royalists by the se- 
crecy and rapidity of his movements. On the evacuation 



SELECT LIVES. 495 

of Charleston, he retired to his plantation, where he died 
in 1795. He was bold, generous, and severe in his dis- 
cipline. 

MORTON, NATHANIEL, one of the first settlers 
of Plymouth, New England, and a magistrate of the col- 
ony, was the author of a history of the church at Plym- 
outh, and of a volume called New England's Memorial. 
This work was originally published in 1669, and a new 
edition of it has been recently issued. 

NICHOLSON, JAMES, an officer in the American 
navy, was born in Chestertown, Maryland, in 1737. He 
followed the life of a sailor till the year 1763, when he 
married, and settled in the city of New York. Here he 
remained until 1771, when he returned to his native prov- 
ince. At the commencement of the revolution, the gov- 
ernment of Maryland built and equipped a ship of war, 
called the Defence, and the command of her was intrusted 
to Nicholson. He performed various exploits during the 
war, and, before the close of it, was taken prisoner, and 
carried into New York. He died in 1806. 

OLIVER, ANDREW, was graduated at Harvard Col- 
lege, in 1724, and was early engaged in public employ- 
ments, succeeded Hutchinson, as lieutenant-governor cf 
Massachusetts, in 1771, and retained that office till his 
death, in 1774. He rendered himself very unpopular by 
accepting from the British government the office of stamp 
distributor of the province. 

OTIS, JAMES, a distinguished American statesman, 
was born at West Barnstable, Massachusetts, in 1725, and 
was graduated at Harvard College, in 1743. He pursued 
the profession of the law, and, establishing himself in Bos- 
ton, soon rose to eminence. His public career may be 
said to have opened with his celebrated speech against 
writs of assistance. At the next election, he was chosen a 
representative to the legislature, and soon became the 
leader of the popular party. In 1765, he was a member 
of the Congress which assembled at New York. In 1769, 
he was severely wounded in an assault committed upon 
him by some British officers ; from one of whom he recov- 
ered large damages, which he remitted on receiving a 
written apology. In 1772, he retired from public life, and. 



496 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

in May of the following year, was killed by a stroke of 
lightning. He was a good scholar, a learned and able 
lawyer, a bold and commanding orator, and possessed in- 
finite powers of humor and wit. 

PARSONS, THEOPHILUS, a distinguished lawyer, 
was born at Byefield, Massachusetts, in 1750, and gradu- 
ated at Harvard College, in 1769. He studied, and pur- 
sued the practice of the law, for some years, in Falmouth, 
now Portland ; but, when that town was destroyed by the 
British, he retired to the house of his father in Newbury. 
About a year afterwards, he opened an office in Newbury- 
port. He soon rose to the highest rank in his profession, 
and made immense acquisitions in legal knowledge. His 
professional services were sought for in all directions, and, 
after thirty-five years of extensive practice, he was appointed 
chief justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. In 
1780, he was a member of the Convention which formed 
the constitution of the state, and of the Convention which 
accepted the federal constitution. He was a powerful 
speaker, without a rival in knowledge of law, and surpassed 
by few in his acquaintance with science and classical liter- 
ature. He continued in the seat of chief justice till his 
death, in 1813. 

PICKERING, TIMOTHY, an American statesman, 
was born in Salem, in 1746, and was graduated at Harvard 
College, in 1763. He took an active part in the popular 
cause, and, in organizing the provisional government of 
Massachusetts in 1775, was appointed a judge of the Court 
of Common Pleas for Essex, and sole judge of the Mari- 
time Court for the middle district. During the war, he 
was appointed adjutant-general, and subsequently a mem- 
ber of the board of war. From 1790 to 1798, at differ- 
ent intervals, he was employed on various negotiations 
with the Indians. He was successively postmaster-gen- 
eral, secretary of war, and secretary of state. From the last 
office he was removed by President Adams, in 1800. From 
1803 to 1811, he was a senator in Congress from his na- 
tive state, and from 1814 to 1817, a representative in that 
body. In public life, he was distinguished for firmness, 
energy, activity, and disinterestedness. He died in Salem, 
in 1829. 



SELECT LIVES. 497 

PRATT, BENJAMIN, chief justice of New York, 
was born in Massachusetts, in 1710, and was graduated at 
Harvard College. He studied law, and, entering on its 
practice in Boston, soon became eminent. Turning his 
attention to public affairs, he soon rose to political dis- 
tinction, and, by the influence of Governor Pownell, was 
appointed chief justice of New York. He died in Jan- 
uary, 1763. He had made collections for a history of New 
England, and possessed considerable talent for poetry. 

PETERS, RICHARD, an eminent judge, was born in 
June, 1744, and received his education in the city of 
Philadelphia. He adopted the profession of the law, and 
soon obtained an extensive practice. At the commence- 
ment of hostilities with the mother country, Mr. Pe- 
ters joined the side of the colonies, and, in 1776, was 
appointed, by Congress, secretary of the board of war. 
His exertions in this department were highly meritorious 
and useful; and, on resigning the post, in 1781, he was 
elected a member of Congress, and assisted in closing the 
business of the war. On the organization of the new 
government, Mr. Peters was appointed judge of the Dis- 
trict Court of Pennsylvania, and performed the duties of 
this office for thirty-six years. During this time, he was 
engaged in several objects of public improvement, and 
issued several valuable publications in relation to agricul- 
ture. As a judge, he possessed powers of a high order, and 
his decisions on admiralty law form the groundwork of 
this branch of our jurisprudence. Their principles were 
not only sanctioned by our own courts, but were simul- 
taneously adopted by Lord Stowell,the distinguished mari- 
time judge of Great Britain. Judge Peters died in Au- 
gust, 1828. 

PINCKNEY, CHARLES COTESWORTH, a dis- 
tinguished officer of the revolutionary army, was born in 
South Carolina, received his education in England, and 
studied law in the Temple. On returning to his native 
province, in 1769, he devoted himself to the successful 
practice of his profession. On the commencement of hos- 
tilities, he renounced law for the study of military tactics, 
and was soon promoted to the command of the first regi- 
ment of Carolina infantry. He was subsequently aid-de- 
42* 



498 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

camp to Washington, and, in this capacity, at the battles 
of Brandywine and Germantown. On the surrender of 
Charleston, he was taken prisoner, and remained so till all 
opportunity of gaining fresh reputation in the field had 
passed. He was a member of the Convention which 
formed the federal constitution, and, in 1796, was ap- 
pointed minister to France. When preparations were 
making for war on account of the expected French inva- 
sion, Mr. Pinckney was nominated a major-general ; but he 
soon had an opportunity of retiring to the quiet of private 
life. He was afterwards president of the Cincinnati So- 
ciety of the United States. He died in 1825. 

PUTNAM, ISRAEL, an officer in the army of the 
American revolution, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, 
in 1718. He received but a meagre education, and, re- 
moving to Connecticut, engaged in agriculture. In the 
French war, he commanded a company, and was engaged 
in several contests with the enemy. In 1756, he fell 
into an ambuscade of savages, and was exposed to the 
most cruel tortures. He obtained his release in 1 759, and 
returned to his farm. Soon after the battle at Lexington, 
he joined the army at Cambridge, was appointed major- 
general, and distinguished himself at Bunker's Hill. In 
1776, he was sent to complete the fortifications at New 
York, and afterwards to fortify Philadelphia. In the win- 
ter of 1777, he was stationed with a small body at Prince- 
ton, and in the spring appointed to a command in the High- 
lands, where he remained most of the time till the close of 
1779, when he was disabled by an attack of paralysis. 
He died in 1790. He was brave, energetic, and one of 
the most efficient officers of the revolution. 

POCAHONTAS, daughter of an Indian chief, and 
much celebrated in the early history of Virginia, was born 
about the year 1595. She became warmly attached to the 
English, and rendered them important services on various 
occasions. She married an Englishman, and, in 1616, 
accompanied her husband to his native country, where she 
was presented at court. She soon after died at Graves- 
end, when about to return to Virginia. She left one son. 

PARKER, ISAAC, an eminent lawyer, was born in 
Boston, and graduated at Harvard College, in 1786. He 



SELECT LIVES. 499 

studied law in the office of Judge Tudor, and commenced 
practice at Castine, in Maine, then an integral part of Mas- 
sachusetts. Removing to Portland, he was sent, for one 
term, to Congress, as a representative from Cumberland 
county. He also held, for a short time, the office of United 
States marshal for that district. In 1806, he was appointed, 
by Governor Strong, associate judge of the Supreme Court 
of Massachusetts, and soon after took up his residence at 
Boston. In 1814, he was appointed chief justice of the 
Supreme Court, and held that office till his sudden death 
in July, 1830, at the age of sixty-three years. He was 
distinguished for urbanity, and his legal opinions are very 
highly respected. 

PULASKI, count, a celebrated soldier, was a na- 
tive of Poland, and made brave though unsuccessful efforts 
to restore his country to independence. He came to the 
United States during the revolutionary war, and was ap- 
pointed a brigadier-general in the American army. He 
was mortally wounded in the attack on Savannah, in 1779. 
Congress voted to erect a monument to his memory. 

QUINCY, JOSIAH, a distinguished lawyer and pa- 
triot, was born in Boston, in 1743, and was graduated at 
Harvard College. He soon became eminent in the prac- 
tice of law, and distinguished by his active exertions in 
the popular cause. His powers of eloquence were of a 
very high order. In 1774, he took a voyage to Europe 
for the benefit of his health, and to advance the interests 
of the colonies. He died on his return, on the 25th of 
April, 1775, the day the vessel reached the harbor of Cape 
Ann. 

REED, JOSEPH, a patriot of the American revolution, 
was graduated at the college in New Jersey, in 1 757. While 
a member of Congress, in 1778, the British commissioner 
endeavored to procure his influence to bring about a recon- 
ciliation between the colonies and the mother country ; he 
rejected their offers with the reply, " That he was not 
worth purchasing ; but, such as he was, the king of Great 
Britain was not rich enough to buy him." In 1778, he 
was chosen president of Pennsylvania, and retained that 
office till his death, in 1781. 

RITTENHOUSE, DAVID, a celebrated mathemati- 



500 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

cian, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1732. During his 
early life, he was employed in agriculture ; but, as his con- 
stitution was feeble, he became a clock and mathematical 
instrument maker. In 1770, he removed to Philadelphia, 
and practised his trade. He was elected a member, and 
for some time president, of the Philosophical Society, and 
one of the commissioners employed to determine the 
boundary line between Pennsylvania and Virginia, and be- 
tween New York and Massachusetts. He was treasurer 
of Pennsylvania from 1777 to 1789, and from 1792 to 
1795, director of the United States mint. His death took 
place in 1796. His mathematical talents were of the 
highest order. 

RAMSAY, DAVID, an American historian, was born 
in Pennsylvania, in 1749, was educated at Princeton Col- 
lege, and commenced the study of medicine. After prac- 
tising a short time in Maryland, he removed to Charleston^ 
South Carolina, in 1773, and soon rose to an extensive 
practice. He took an active and early part in the cause 
of the colonies, and was for some time a surgeon in the 
revolutionary army. In 1782, he was chosen to a seat in 
Congress. He wrote a History of the Revolution in South 
Carolina ; a History of the American Revolution ; a Life 
of Washington ; a History of South Carolina ; and a His- 
tory of the United States. He died in 1815. 

REEVE, TAPPING, an eminent lawyer, was born at 
Brook Haven, in 1744, and was graduated at Princeton 
College. He established himself as a lawyer in Litchfield, 
Connecticut, where he founded the law school, of which, 
for nearly thirty years, he was the principal instructor. He 
was for many years judge of the Supreme Court of that 
state, and some time chief justice. His legal attainments 
were of a high order, and, as a man, he possessed the 
esteem and respect of the community. 

STRONG, CALEB, governor of Massachusetts, was 
born at Northampton, in 1744, and graduated at Harvard 
College. He pursued the profession of the law, and estab- 
lished himself in his native town. Taking an early and 
active part in the revolutionary movements, he was ap- 
pointed, in 1775, one of the committee of safety, and, in 
the following year, a member of the state legislature. He 



SELECT LIVES. 501 

was a member of the Convention which formed the consti- 
tution of the state, and of that which formed the constitu- 
tion of the United States. Subsequently he was a senator 
to Congress, and for eleven years, at different periods, chief 
magistrate of Massachusetts. He died in 1820. 

SEDGWICK, THEODORE, was born at Hartford, in 
1746, was educated at Yale College, and, removing to 
Massachusetts, pursued the study of the law. He em- 
barked with spirit in the cause of the popular party before 
the revolution, held a seat several years in the state legis- 
lature, and was a member of Congress under the old 
confederation. He was a member of the Massachusetts 
Convention to decide on the adoption of the federal consti- 
tution, was a representative and senator to Congress, and, 
in 1802, was appointed judge of the Supreme Judicial 
Court of Massachusetts. In this office he remained till 
his death, in 1813. 

SMITH, JOHN, one of the early settlers of Virginia, 
was born in Lincolnshire, in 1579. After passing through 
a variety of wonderful adventures, he resolved to visit 
North America ; and having, with a number of other per- 
sons, procured a charter of South Virginia, he came over 
thither in 1607. Being taken prisoner by the Indians, 
and condemned to death, his life was saved by the daugh- 
ter of the savage chief, the celebrated Pocahontas. He 
published an account of several of his voyages to Virginia, 
a history of that colony, and an account of his own life. 
He died at London, in 1631. 

SULLIVAN, JOHN, an officer in the army of the 
American revolution, was born in Maine, and established 
himself in the profession of law in New Hampshire. 
Turning his attention to military affairs, he received, in 
1772, the commission of major, and, in 1775, that of brig- 
adier-general. The next year, he was sent to Canada, and, 
on the death of General Thomas, the command of the 
army devolved on him. In this year, he was promoted to 
the rank of major-general, and was soon after captured by 
the British in the battle on Long Island. He commanded 
a division of the army at the battles of Trenton, Brandy- 
wine, and Germantown, and was the sole commander of 
an expedition to the Island of Newport, which failed 



502 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

through want of cooperation from the French fleet. In 
1779, he commanded an expedition against the Indians. 
He was afterwards a member of Congress, and for three 
years president of New Hampshire. In 1789, he was ap- 
pointed a judge of the District Court, and continued in that 
office till his death, in 1795. 

SULLIVAN, JAMES, was born at Berwick, Maine, 
in 1744, and, after passing the early part of his life in agri- 
cultural pursuits, adopted the profession of the law. He 
took an early part in the revolutionary struggle, and in 
1775 was chosen a member of the Provincial Congress. 
In 1776, he was appointed a judge of the Superior Court, 
He was subsequently a member of Congress, a member of 
the executive council, judge of probate, and, in 1790, was 
appointed attorney-general. In 1807, he was elected gov- 
ernor of Massachusetts, and again in the following year, in 
the December of which he died. He was the author of a 
History of Land Titles, a History of the District of Maine, 
and an Essay on Banks. His rank at the bar was in the 
very first class, and in his private character he was distin- 
guished for piety, patriotism, and integrity. 

STARK, JOHN, a general in the army of the Ameri- 
can revolution, was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, 
in 1728. During the French war, he was captain of a 
company of rangers in the provincial service, in 1755, and 
was with Lord Howe when that general was killed, in 
storming the French lines at Ticonderoga, in 1758. On 
receiving the report of the battle of Lexington, he was en- 
gaged at work in his saw-mill ; and, fired with indignation, 
seized his musket, and immediately proceeded to Cam- 
bridge. He was at the battles of Bunker's Hill and of 
Trenton, and achieved a glorious victory at Bennington. 
He rose to the rank of brigadier-general, and was distin- 
guished throughout the war for enterprise and courage. 
He died in 1822. 

STEUBEN, FREDERICK WILLIAM AUGUSTUS, 
baron de, was a Prussian officer, aid-de-camp to Fred- 
erick the Great, and lieutenant-general in the army of 
that distinguished commander. He arrived in America in 
1777, and immediately offered his services to the Conti- 
nental Congress. In 1778, he was appointed inspector- 



SELECT LIVES. 503 

general, with the rank of major-general, and rendered the 
most efficient services in the establishment of a regular 
system of discipline. During the war, he was exceedingly 
active and useful, and after the peace, he retired to a farm 
in the vicinity of New York, where, with the assistance 
of books and friends, he passed his time as agreeably as a 
frequent want of funds would permit. The state of New 
York afterwards gave him a tract of sixteen thousand 
acres in the county of Oneida, and the general government 
made him a grant of two thousand five hundred dollars 
per annum. He died in 1795, and, at his own request, was 
wrapped in his cloak, placed in a plain coffin, and hid in 
the earth, without a stone to tell where he was laid. 

STANDISH, MILES, the first captain at Plymouth, 
New England, was born at Lancashire, in 1584, and ac- 
companied Mr. Robinson's congregation to Plymouth, in 
1620. His services in the wars witji the Indians were 
highly useful, and many of his exploits were daring and 
extraordinary. He died in 1656. 

TRUMBULL, JOHN, the author of McFingal, was 
born in Connecticut, in 1750, and was educated at Yale 
College, where he entered at a very early age. In 1772, 
he published the first part of his poem, the Progress of 
Dulness. In the following year, he was admitted to the 
bar in Connecticut, and, removing to Boston, continued 
his legal studies in the office of John Adams. He re- 
turned to his native state in 1774, and commenced prac- 
tice at New Haven. The first part of McFingal was pub- 
lished at Philadelphia, in 1775 : the poem was completed 
and published in 1782, at Hartford, where the author at 
that time lived. More than thirty editions of this work 
have been printed. In 1789, he was appointed state-attor- 
ney for the county of Hartford, and, in 1801, was appoint- 
ed a judge of the Superior Court of Errors, and held this 
appointment till 1819. In 1820, a collection of his poems 
was published in two volumes, 8vo. In 1825, he removed 
to Detroit, where he died, in May, 1831. 

TYLER, ROYALL, a lawyer and miscellaneous wri- 
ter, was born in Boston, and graduated at Harvard Col- 
lege, in 1776. In 1790, he removed his residence to Ver- 
mont, and soon distinguished himself in his profession of 



504 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

law. For six years he was an associate judge of the Su* 
preme Court of that state, and for six years more chief 
justice. He was the author of several dramatic pieces of 
considerable merit; a novel, called the Algerine Captive; 
and numerous pieces, in prose and verse, published in the 
Farmers' Museum, when edited by Dennie. In addition 
to these, he published two volumes, entitled Vermont Re- 
ports. He died at Brattleborough, in 1825. 

TILGHMAN, WILLIAM, an eminent jurist, was 
born in 1756, in Talbot county, on the eastern shore of 
Maryland. In 1772, he began the study of law in Phila- 
delphia, but was not admitted to the practice of the profes- 
sion till 1783, In 1788, and for some successive years, he 
was elected a representative to the legislature of Mary- 
land. In 1793, he returned to Philadelphia, and pursued 
the practice of the law in that city till 1801, when he was 
appointed chief judge of the Circuit Court of the United 
States for the third circuit. After the abolition of this 
court, he resumed his profession, and continued in it till 
1805, when he was appointed president of the Courts of 
Common Pleas in the first district of Pennsylvania. In 
the following year, he was commissioned as chief justice of 
the Supreme Court of that state. He died in 1827. 

TUDOR, WILLIAM, a man of letters, was born in 
the state of Massachusetts, and was graduated at Harvard 
College, in 1796. He soon after visited Europe, and 
passed several years there. After having been some time 
a member of the legislature of his native state, he was 
appointed, in 1823, consul at Lima and for the ports of 
Peru. In 1827, he was appointed charge d'affaires of the 
United States at the court of Brazil. He died at Rio de 
Janeiro, in 1830. Mr. Tudor was the founder, and for 
two years the sole editor, of the North American Review. 
He was the author of Letters on the Eastern States, and a 
Life of James Otis, and left a number of volumes in manu- 
script, nearly prepared for the press. 

WILLIAMS, OTHO HOLLAND, an officer in the 
American army, was born in Maryland, in 1748, served in 
various capacities during the revolutionary war, and fought 
at the battles of Guilford, Hobkirk's Hill, and the Eutaws. 
Before the disbanding of the army, he was made brigadier- 



SELECT LIVES. 505 

general. For several years, he was collector at Baltimore. 
He died in 1794. 

WINTHROP, JOHN, first governor of Massachusetts, 
was born at Groton, England, in 1587. He arrived, with 
the colonists, in Salem, in 1630, having a commission as 
their governor, and held this office, with the exception of 
six or seven years, till his death, in 1649. He kept a 
minute journal of the affairs of the colony, which has been 
published, and possesses much value. 

WINTHROP, JOHN, son of the foregoing, was born 
in England, in 1605, and received his education at Cam- 
bridge. He came to Massachusetts in 1633, and, subse- 
quently visiting England, returned, and established a colo- 
ny at Saybrook, Connecticut. In 1657, he was chosen 
governor of that colony, and remained so till his death, in 
1676. He was distinguished for his love of natural philos- 
ophy, and was one of the founders of the Royal Society 
of London. 

WINTHROP, JAMES, a man of letters, was born at 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1752, and was graduated at 
Harvard College. He was for twenty years librarian of 
that institution. His acquirements in the exact sciences, 
the ancient and modern languages, and in biblical and po- 
lite literature, were extensive. He died in 1821. 

WHEELOCK, JOHN, was born at Lebanon, Con- 
necticut, in 1754. During the revolution, he held the com- 
mission of lieutenant-colonel, and obtained some military 
reputation. In 1779, he became president of Dartmouth 
College, New Hampshire, and, in 1782, visited Europe to 
obtain contributions for that seminary. He remained in 
that office for thirty-six years. His death took -place in 
1817. 

WARREN, JOSEPH, a patriot of the American revo- 
lution, was born in Roxbury, near Boston, in 1741, and 
was graduated at Harvard College, in 1759. He pursued 
the profession of medicine, and, soon after commencing 
the practice, distinguished himself by his successful treat- 
ment of the small-pox. Early engaging in politics, he ob- 
tained great influence, and rendered efficient service by 
his writings and addresses. He was twice elected to 
deliver the oration in commemoration of the massacre on 
43 



506 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

the 5th of March. In June, 1775, the Provincial Con- 
gress of Massachusetts, of which he was at this time 
president, made him a major-general of their forces. At 
the battle of Bunker's Hill he fought as a volunteer, and 
was slain within a few yards of the breastwork, as he was 
among the last slowly retiring from it. He was a man of 
the most generous and intrepid spirit, much elegance of 
manners, and of commanding eloquence. His loss was 
deeply felt and regretted. In 1776, his remains were 
removed from the battle-ground, and interred in Boston. 

WARREN, JAMES, was born at Plymouth, in 1726, 
and was graduated at Harvard College, in 1745. He took 
an early and active part in the cause of the colonies 
against the aggressions of the mother country, was a 
member of the General Court, proposed the establish- 
ment of committees of correspondence, and, after the 
death of General Warren, was appointed president of 
the Provincial Congress. He was afterwards appointed 
a major-general of the militia. On the adoption of the 
constitution of Massachusetts, he was for many years 
speaker of the House of Representatives. He died at 
Plymouth, in 1808. 

WASHINGTON, BUSHROD, an eminent judge, was 
born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, and was educated 
at William and Mary's College. He pursued the study of 
the law in the office of Mr. Wilson, of Philadelphia, and 
commenced its practice with great success in his native 
county. In 1781, he was a member of the House of Dele- 
gates of Virginia. He afterwards removed to Alexandria, 
and thence to Richmond, where he published two volumes 
of the decisions of the Supreme Court of Virginia. In 
1798, he was appointed an associate justice of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, and continued to hold this 
situation till his death, in November, 1829. He was the 
favorite nephew of President Washington, and was the 
devisee of Mount Vernon. 

WINDER, WILLIAM H., an officer in the American 
army, was born in Maryland, in 1775, was educated for the 
bar, and pursued his profession in Baltimore with great 
success. In 1812, he received a colonel's commission, was 
promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, and served with 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 507 

reputation during the war with Great Britain. He com- 
manded the troops at the battle of Bladensburg. On the 
declaration of peace, he resumed the practice of his pro- 
fession. He died in 1824. 

WAYNE, ANTHONY, major-general in the army of 
the United States, was born, in 1745, in Chester county, 
Pennsylvania. He entered the army as colonel in 1775, 
served under Gates at Ticonderoga, and was promoted to 
the rank of brigadier-general. He was engaged in the 
battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth, in 
1779 captured the fortress at Stony Point, and rendered 
other important services during the war. In 1787, he was 
a member of the Pennsylvanian Convention which ratified 
the constitution of the United States. In 1792, he suc- 
ceeded St. Clair in the command of the western army, 
and gained a complete victory at the battle of the 
Miamis, in 1794. He died at Presque Isle, in 1796. 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

George Washington, the illustrious founder of Amer- 
ican independence, was born in 1732, in the county of 
Fairfax, in Virginia, where his father was possessed of 
great landed property. He was educated under the care 
of a private tutor, and paid much attention to the study of 
mathematics and engineering. He was first employed 
officially by General Dinwiddie, in 1753, in remonstrating 
to the French commander on the Ohio for the infraction 
of the treaty between the two nations. He subsequently 
negotiated a treaty of amity with the Indians of the back 
settlements, and for his honorable services received the 
thanks of the British government. In the unfortunate ex- 
pedition of General Braddock, he served as aid-de-camp; 



508 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

and, on the fall of that brave but rash commander, he con- 
ducted the retreat to the corps under Colonel Dunbar, in 
a manner that displayed great military talent. He retired 
from the service with the rank of colonel ; but, while en- 
gaged in agriculture at his favorite seat of Mount Vernon, 
he was elected senator in the national council for Freder- 
ick county, and afterwards for Fairfax. At the commence- 
ment of the revolutionary war, he was selected as the most 
proper person to take the chief command of the provincial 
troops. From the moment of taking upon himself this 
important office, (in June, 1775,) he employed the great 
powers of his mind to his favorite object ; and, by his 
prudence, his valor, and presence of mind, he deserved 
and obtained the confidence and gratitude of his country, 
and finally triumphed over all opposition. The record of 
his services is the history of the whole war. He joined 
the army at Cambridge, in July, 1775. On the evacuation 
of Boston, in March, 1776, he proceeded to New York. 
The battle of Long Island was fought on the 27th of Au- 
gust, and the battle of White Plains on the 28th of Octo- 
ber. On the 25th of December, he crossed the Delaware, 
and soon gained the victories at Trenton and Princeton. 

The battle of Brandywine was fought on September 
11th, 1777; of Germantown, October 4th; of Monmouth, 
February 28th, 1778. In 1779 and 1780, he continued 
in the vicinity of New York, and closed the important 
military operations of the war by the capture of Corn- 
wallis, at Yorktown, in 1781. When the independence 
of his country was established by the treaty of peace, 
Washington resigned his high office to the Congress, and, 
followed by the applause and the grateful admiration of his 
fellow-citizens, retired into private life. His high charac- 
ter and services naturally entitled him to the highest gifts 
his country could bestow; and, on the organization of the 
government, he was called upon to be the first president 
of the states which he had preserved and established. It 
was a period of great difficulty and danger. The unsub- 
dued spirit of liberty had been roused and kindled by the 
revolution of France; and many Americans were eager 
that the freedom and equality, which they themselves en- 
joyed, should be extended to the subjects of the French 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 509 

monarch. Washington anticipated the plans of the fac- 
tious, and, by prudence and firmness, subdued insurrec- 
tion, and silenced discontent, till the parties, which the 
intrigues of Genet, the French envoy, had roused to rebel- 
lion, were convinced of the wildness of their measures, 
and of the wisdom of their governor. The president 
completed, in 1796, the business of his office by signing a 
commercial treaty with Great Britain, and then voluntarily 
resigned his power, at a moment when all hands and all 
hearts were united again to confer upon him the sove- 
reignty of the country. Restored to the peaceful retire- 
ment of Mount Vernon, he devoted himself to the pursuits 
of agriculture; and, though he accepted the command of 
the army in 1798, it was merely to unite the affections of 
his fellow-citizens to the general good, and was one more 
sacrifice to his high sense of duty. 

General Washington was six feet in height; he appeared 
taller, as his shoulders rose a little higher than the true 
proportion. His eyes were of a gray, and his hair of a 
brown, color ; his limbs were well formed, and indicated 
strength; his complexion was light, and his countenance 
serene and thoughtful ; his manners were graceful, manly, 
and dignified ; his general appearance never failed to en- 
gage the respect and esteem of all who approached him. 
Reserved, but not haughty, in his disposition, he was ac- 
cessible to all, in concerns of business; but he opened 
himself only to his confidential friends, and no art or ad- 
dress could draw from him an opinion which he thought 
prudent to conceal. 

He was not so much distinguished for brilliancy of 
genius as for solidity of judgment, and consummate pru- 
dence of conduct. He was not so eminent for any one 
quality of greatness and worth, as for the union of those 
great, amiable, and good qualities, which are very rarely 
combined in the same character. In domestic and private 
life, he blended the authority of the master with the care 
and kindness of the guardian and friend. Solicitous for 
the welfare of his slaves, while at Mount Vernon, he every 
morning rode round his estates to examine their condition ; 
for the sick, physicians were provided, and to the weak 
and infirm every necessary comfort was administered. 
43* 



510 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

The servitude of the negroes lay with weight upon his 
mind ; he often made it the subject of conversation, and 
revolved several plans for their general emancipation. 
His industry was unremitted, and his method so exact, 
that all the complicated business of his military command 
and civil administration was managed without confusion 
and without hurry. Not feeling the lust of power, and 
ambitious only for honorable fame, he devoted himself to 
his country upon the most disinterested principles, and his 
actions wore not the semblance, but the reality, of virtue: 
the purity of his motives was accredited, and absolute con- 
fidence placed in his patriotism. 

While filling a public station, the performance of his 
duty took the place of pleasure, emolument, and every pri- 
vate consideration. During the more critical years of the 
war, a smile was scarcely seen upon his countenance ; he 
gave himself no moments of relaxation, but his whole 
mind was engrossed to execute successfully his trust. He 
was as eminent for piety as for patriotism ; his public and 
private conduct evince, that he impressively felt a sense 
of the superintendence of God, and of the dependence of 
man. In his addresses, while at the head of the army and 
of the national government, he gratefully noticed the sig- 
nal blessings of Providence, and fervently commended his 
country to divine benediction. In private, he was known 
to have been habitually devout. In the establishment of 
his presidential household, he reserved to himself the Sab- 
bath, free from the interruptions of private visits or public 
business ; and, throughout the eight years of his civil ad- 
ministration, he gave to the institutions of Christianity the 
influence of his example. Uniting the talents of the sol- 
dier with the qualifications of the statesman, and pursuing, 
unmoved by difficulties, the noblest end by the purest 
means, he had the supreme satisfaction of beholding the 
complete success of his great military and civil services, 
in the independence and happiness of his country. He 
died, after a short illness, on the 14th of December, 1799. 
He was buried with the honors due to the noble founder 
of a happy and prosperous republic. History furnishes no 
parallel to the character of Washington. He stands on an 
unapproached eminence — distinguished almost beyond hu- 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS, 51 J 

manity for self-command, intrepidity, soundness of judg- 
ment, rectitude of purpose, and deep, ever-active piety. 

JOHN ADAMS. 

John Adams, a distinguished patriot of the American 
revolution, was born in 1735, at Braintree, Massachusetts. 
He was educated at the University of Cambridge, and re- 
ceived the degree of master of arts, in 1758. At this 
time he entered the office of Jeremiah Gridley, a lawyer 
of the highest eminence, to complete his legal studies ; 
and in the next year he was admitted to the bar of Suffolk. 
Mr. Adams at an early age espoused the cause of his coun- 
try, and received numerous marks of the public confidence 
and respect. He took a prominent part in every leading 
measure, and served on several committees which reported 
some of the most important state papers of the time. He 
was elected a member of the Congress, and was among the 
foremost in recommending the adoption of an independent 
government. It has been affirmed by Mr. Jefferson him- 
self, " that the great pillar of support to the declaration 
of independence, and its ablest advocate and champion on 
the floor of the house, was John Adams." In 1777, he 
was chosen commissioner to the court of Versailles, in the 
place of Mr. Deane, who was recalled. On his return, 
about a year afterwards, he was elected a member of the 
Convention to prepare a form of government for the state 
of Massachusetts, and placed on the sub-committee chosen 
to draught the project of a constitution. Three months 
after his return, Congress sent him abroad with two com- 
missions, one as minister plenipotentiary to negotiate a 
peace, the other to form a commercial treaty with Great 
Britain. In June, 1780, he was appointed, in the place of 
Mr. Laurens, ambassador to Holland, and in 1782, he re- 
paired to Paris, to commence the negotiation for peace, 
having previously obtained assurance that Great Britain 
would recognize the independence of the United States. 
At the close of the war, Mr. Adams was appointed the 
first minister to London. 

In 1789, he was elected vice-president of the United 
States, and, on the resignation of Washington, succeeded 



512 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

to the presidency, in 1797. After his term of four years 
had expired, it was found, on the new election, that his 
adversary, Mr. Jefferson, had succeeded by the majority 
of one vote, On retiring to his farm in Q,uincy, Mr. 
Adams occupied himself with agriculture, obtaining 
amusement from the literature and politics of the day. 
The remaining years of his life were passed in almost un- 
interrupted tranquillity. 

The account that Mr. Adams gives, in a letter to a friend, 
of his introduction to George III., at the court of St. 
James, as the first minister from the rebel colonies, is very 
interesting. The scene would form a noble picture, 
highly honorable both to his majesty and the republican 
minister. Here stood the stern monarch, who had ex- 
pended more than six hundred millions of dollars, and the 
lives of two hundred thousand of his subjects, in a vain 
attempt to subjugate freemen ; and by his side stood the 
man who, in the language of Jefferson, " was the great 
pillar of support to the declaration of independence, and 
its ablest advocate and champion on the floor of Congress." 
Mr. Adams says, " At one o'clock, on Wednesday, the first 
of June, 1785, the master of ceremonies called at my 
house, and went with me to the secretary of state's office, 
in Cleaveland Row, where the marquis of Caermarthen re- 
ceived and introduced me to Mr. Frazier, his under sec- 
retary, who had been, as his lordship said, uninterruptedly 
in that office through all the changes in administration for 
thirty years. After a short conversation, Lord Caermar- 
then invited me to go with him in his coach to court. 
When we arrived in the ante-chamber, the master of 
the ceremonies introduced him, and attended me, while 
the secretary of state went to take the commands of the 
king. While I stood in this place, where, it seems, all 
ministers stand upon such occasions, always attended by 
the master of ceremonies, the room was very full of 
ministers of state, bishops, and all other sorts of courtiers, 
as well as the next room, which is the king's bed-chamber. 
You may well suppose I was the focus of all eyes. I was 
relieved, however, from the embarrassment of it, by the 
Swedish and Dutch ministers, who came to me, and enter- 
tained me with a very agreeable conversation during the 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 513 

whole time. Some other gentlemen, whom I had seen be- 
fore, came to make their compliments to me, until the mar- 
quis of Caermarthen returned, and desired me to go with 
him to his majesty. I went with his lordship through the 
levee room into the king's closet. The door was shut, and 
I was left with his majesty and the secretary of state alone. 
I made the three reverences — one at the door, another 
about half way, and another before the presence, accord- 
ing to the usage established at this and all the northern 
courts of Europe ; and then I addressed myself to his ma- 
jesty, in the following words : — ' Sire : The United States 
have appointed me minister plenipotentiary to your ma- 
jesty, and have directed me to deliver to your majesty this 
letter, which contains the evidence of it. It is in obe- 
dience to their express commands, that I have the honor 
to assure your majesty of their unanimous disposition and 
desire to cultivate the most friendly and liberal intercourse 
between your majesty's subjects and their citizens, and of 
their best wishes for your majesty's health and happiness, 
and for that of your family. The appointment of a minis- 
ter from the United States to your majesty's court, will 
form an epoch in the history of England and America. I 
think myself more fortunate than all my fellow-citizens, in 
having the distinguished honor to be the first to stand in 
your majesty's royal presence in a diplomatic character; 
and I shall esteem myself the happiest of men, if I can be 
instrumental in recommending my country more and more 
to your majesty's royal benevolence, and of restoring an 
entire esteem, confidence, and affection ; or, in better 
words, the old good nature and the good old humor, be- 
tween people who, though separated by an ocean, and 
under different governments, have the same language, a 
similar religion, a kindred blood. I beg your majesty's 
permission to add, that, although I have sometimes before 
been instructed by my country, it was never, in my whole 
life, in a manner so agreeable to myself.' 

" The king listened to every word I said, with dignity, it 
is true, but with apparent emotion. Whether it was my 
visible agitation — for I felt more than I could express — that 
touched him, I cannot say ; but he was much affected, and 
answered me with more tremor than I had spoken with, 



514 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

and said : — ' Sir : The circumstances of this audience are 
so extraordinary, the language you have now held is so 
extremely proper, and the feelings you have discovered so 
justly adapted to the occasion, that I not only receive with 
pleasure the assurance of the friendly disposition of the 
United States, but I am glad the choice has fallen upon 
you to be their minister. I wish you, sir, to believe, and 
that it may be understood in America, that I have done 
nothing in the late contest but what I thought myself in- 
dispensably bound to do, by the duty which I owed my 
people. I will be frank with you. 1 was the last to 
conform to the separation ; but the separation having be- 
come inevitable, I have always said, as I now say, that I 
would be the first to meet the friendship of the United 
States as an independent power. The moment I see such 
sentiments and language as yours prevail, and a disposition 
to give this country the preference, that moment I shall say, 
"Let the circumstances of language, religion, and blood, 
have their natural, full effect. " ' I dare not say that these 
were the king's precise words ; and it is even possible that 
I may have, in some particulars, mistaken his meaning; 
for, although his pronunciation is as distinct as I ever 
heard, he hesitated sometimes between members of the 
same period. He was, indeed, much affected, and I was 
not less so ; and therefore I cannot be certain that I was so 
attentive, heard so clearly, and understood so perfectly, as 
to be confident of all his words, or sense. This I do say, 
that the foregoing is his majesty's meaning, as I then un- 
derstood it, and his own words, as nearly as I can recol- 
lect them. The king then asked me whether I came last 
from France ; and, upon my answering in the affirmative, 
he put on an air of familiarity, and smiling, or rather laugh- 
ing, said, ' There is an opinion among some people that 
you are not the most attached of all your countrymen 
to the manners of France.' I was surprised at this, because 
I thought it an indiscretion, and a descent from his dignity. 
I was a little embarrassed ; but, determined not to deny 
truth, on the one hand, nor lead him to infer from it any 
attachment to England, on the other, I threw off as much 
gravity as I could, and assumed an air of gayety, and a tone 
of decision, as far as was decent, and said, ' That opinion, 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 515 

sir, is not mistaken ; I must avow to your majesty, I have 
no attachment but to my own country.' The king replied, 
as quick as lightning, ' An honest man will never have any 
other.' The king then said a word or two to the secre- 
tary of state, which, being between them, I did not hear, 
and then turned round and bowed to me, as is customary 
with all kings and princes when they give the signal to 
retire. I retreated, stepping backwards, as is the etiquette; 
and making my last reverence at the door of the chamber, 
I went to my carriage." — He died on the 4th of July, 
1826, with the same words on his lips, which, fifty years 
before, on that glorious day, he had uttered on the floor of 
Congress — " Independence forever." — Mr. Adams is the 
author of an Essay on Canon and Feudal Law ; a series 
of Letters, published under the signature of Novanglus ; 
and Discourses on Davila. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United 
States, was born at Shadwell Farm, near Monticello, April 
2, 1743. It is a little remarkable that the date of his birth 
could never be accurately determined, till it was discov- 
ered after his death. He invariably resisted all attempts 
made by his enthusiastic friends to obtain knowledge of 
it, who wished that the anniversary of his birth might be- 
come a day of jubilee to our nation. 

His youth was not squandered in pleasure which brings 
no return, but was faithfully and diligently devoted to the 
improvement of his mind. When he was yet quite young, 
he was one day present while Patrick Henry was pouring 
forth a flood of eloquence, carrying away the sentiments 
of all before it ; Jefferson felt within himself the mighty 
struggles of a great spirit, which only demanded for its 
exhibition a theatre adequate to its powers. He re- 
flected seriously whether he should spend his time in the 
fashionable amusements of the young men of his age, or 
make the glory of Patrick Henry the pole-star of his 
thoughts and aspirations. 

He decided on the latter course, and commenced the 
study of law, to which he assiduously devoted himself, and, 



516 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

after admission to the bar, engaged for a time in the 
practice of it. But he was early called to take a seat in 
the council of his native state, where he advanced at once 
to the very front rank. He took his stand on the part of 
the people, and, through the whole course of his subse- 
quent career, was faithful to the generous spirit of his 
youth. 

Though himself a slaveholder, one of his first efforts at 
legislation was the introduction of a bill entitled " per- 
mission for the emancipation of slaves," which was de- 
feated by a large majority ; yet it served to exhibit the un- 
compromising hostility of Jefferson to oppression in all its 
forms. It was while he was a member of the Virginia 
legislature, that the resolutions of the British parliament, 
directed against Massachusetts, were received, and, at the 
instance of Jefferson, were met by counter resolutions. 
For this offence, the legislature was dissolved by the royal 
governor. Jefferson, Wythe, the two Lees, and Carr, ad- 
journed to a tavern, where they conceived and perfected 
the non-importation act, which, more than any other meas- 
ure, crippled the commerce of England, and revealed to 
her, and to the colonies themselves, the importance of the 
colonial trade. At a subsequent meeting, they discussed 
and settled a plan of operations for the committees of cor- 
respondence in the different colonies, through whom every 
important act, that transpired in one, was immediately 
communicated to the sister colonies. Thus the slow 
and cautious step of tyranny in any colony was de- 
tected, and the whole policy of England unfolded to the 
view of all. 

But the public mind was still too sluggish for the im- 
petuous feelings of Jefferson, and he had recourse to the 
press, and to private correspondence, to breathe into the 
people the breath of life. He even proposed, and caused 
to be proclaimed, a religious fast on the day appointed for 
the Boston Port Bill to go into operation. For this ap- 
pointment, the legislature was dissolved by Lord Dunmore, 
the royal governor. At this time, as after the former dis- 
solution of the assembly, Jefferson and his patriotic as- 
sociates retired to a tavern, where they digested other 
schemes to excite the indignation of the colonies against 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 517 

England. To effect this design, they resorted to every 
means that offered — the pulpit, the pen, the press, and 
political harangues. At length, Jefferson had the satisfac- 
tion of taking part in the democratic Convention at Wil- 
liamsburg, in Virginia, the first ever assembled in Amer- 
ica, where he wrote and presented instructions for the 
congressional delegates, entitled " A Summary View of 
the Rights of British America/' which was republished by 
the whigs in the British Parliament. The bold stand taken 
in this pamphlet, brought down on Jefferson the vengeance 
of the British ministers, and a bill of attainder for high 
treason was commenced against him in the British Par- 
liament, which, however, was never brought to maturity ; 
and had it been so, it could never have been served upon 
him, without a posse comitatus of one hundred thousand 
soldiers. 

In the year 1774, the royal government in the colonies 
may be said to have ceased, and the American assemblies 
to have succeeded to the inheritance of power, of which 
they had hitherto been unjustly deprived. Since she could 
no longer hope for success in overt acts of tyranny, Eng- 
land had recourse to the arts of finesse and diplomatic 
skill. The conciliatory proposition of Lord North was 
now sent to each colony, allowing the Americans the privi- 
lege of taxing themselves, provided that the amount of their 
contributions was satisfactory to England. So shallow a 
device could not have been supposed, by candid and sensi- 
ble men, to have the most distant prospect of success with 
the majority of the people, but was probably intended 
merely to create a division, and overthrow the confedera- 
tion. On this ground Jefferson took his stand ; and in the 
answer which he was appointed to prepare, he clearly and 
decidedly announced the determination of Virginia to ac- 
cept no proposition which was not made to the General 
Congress. 

But now the hour of trial had come. September 5, 
1774, Congress had assembled in Philadelphia. A resolu- 
tion, moved by Patrick Henry, declaring the expediency of 
putting the colonies in a state of defence, was before them. 
The wary and the prudent shrank from the dreadful leap ; 
the bold and far-sighted rushed at once into the Rubicon. 
44 



518 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

Long and vehement was the contest ; but nothing could 
resist the power of Henry, Jefferson, the Lees, the Pages, 
and Mason. The Rubicon was passed — the resolution was 
adopted. And now the principle that sustained America 
in the shock with Britain's power, was pointedly displayed ; 
the minority, to a man, united with the majority, and boldly 
put their names to the resolution. 

Jefferson was appointed to draw the Declaration of In- 
dependence. The draught was reported June 28th, or- 
dered to lie on the table till July 2, when it was subjected to 
a most tremendous ordeal in the debate that followed ; but 
after many alterations it passed. Thirty-seven years after- 
wards, Mr. Jefferson declared that Mr. Adams was the pil- 
lar of its support on the floor of Congress, its ablest advo- 
cate and defender against the multifarious assaults it 
encountered. 

In a memorandum made by Jefferson relative to the 
alterations and omissions, he says, " The clause reproba- 
ting the enslaving the inhabitants of Africa, was struck out 
in complaisance to South Carolina and Georgia, who had 
never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves, and 
who, on the contrary, still wished to continue it. Our 
northern brethren, also, I believe, felt a little tender under 
those censures ; for, though the people had very few slaves 
themselves, yet they had been pretty considerable carriers 
of them to others." 

The congressional term for which Jefferson was elected, 
expired in August, 1776, and he was reelected, but soon 
resigned his seat to take a place in the legislature of 
Virginia, where he believed that he could be more use- 
ful. He was here the author of a bill abolishing entail- 
ments, and of one securing religious liberty ; a bill for 
emancipating slaves born after its enactment, which was 
defeated in his absence ; a bill to abolish capital punishment, 
except in extreme cases ; and a bill establishing literary in- 
stitutions. 

In 1779, Jefferson was chosen governor of Virginia, 
where he was distinguished for his firmness in opposition to 
the cruelty practised by the British on the Americans who 
fell into their power. To repress these cruelties, he had 
recourse to retaliation upon a man named Hamilton, and 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 519 

on his associates, who had exercised great enormities, and 
were therefore deemed proper objects of retaliation. This 
measure was believed to have been advantageous to Amer- 
ican prisoners in the power of the British, and accordingly 
severities were soon relaxed. In 1781, Mr. Jefferson, from 
a belief that the interests of the states required a governor 
whose military experience would enable him to lead the 
forces of the state, resigned in favor of Governor Nelson. 
Shortly after his resignation, Cornwallis, having learned 
that the Assembly was in session at Charlottesville, detached 
Colonel Tarleton at the head of his corps, to seize Mr. 
Jefferson. When about ten miles from Charlottesville, 
Tarleton sent a small troop to Monticello, and with the 
rest of his corps rode to Charlottesville. The alarm was 
given about sunrise; the speakers of the two houses hast- 
ened from Monticello, where they had slept the previous 
night, hastily rode to Charlottesville, adjourned the Assem- 
bly, and made their escape. Jefferson placed his wife and 
children in a carriage, and sent them to the house of Colo- 
nel Carter, on a neighboring mountain, and remained at his 
own house, waiting until his horse should be shod, when word 
was brought that the British troops were already at the foot 
of the hill on which his mansion stood. Upon hearing this, 
he mounted his horse, and fled into the woods, with whose 
avenues he was perfectly acquainted, and soon afterwards 
joined his family. Tarleton, chagrined at his disappoint- 
ment, burned all the barns of Jefferson, containing his 
last year's crop, carried off all the cattle, sheep, swine, &c, 
and some of his horses, cut the throats of the rest, and 
burned all the fences on his plantation, reducing it to a 
barren waste. 

In 1783, Mr. Jefferson was elected to Congress, where, 
as in former times, he was to be found on those commit- 
tees that particularly required ability, integrity, and patriot- 
ism. He proposed and carried the measure effecting a 
change in the denomination of the currency, and intro- 
ducing the decimal system. He opposed the formation of 
the Society of the Cincinnati, and the multiplication of 
ambassadors to foreign powers, in order to contract with 
them entangling alliances. 

In 1789, he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to 



520 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

France, to succeed Dr. Franklin. About this time, the 
claims of the Barbary pirates, to which the greater part of 
the European powers had acceded, were firmly resisted by 
Mr. Jefferson, in the spirit of the maxim uttered by him 
on that occasion — "Millions for defence, but not one 
cent for tribute." He opposed the formation of a treaty 
of commerce with Spain, requiring us to surrender to that 
power, for twenty or thirty years, the navigation of the 
Mississippi. While he was in France, besides attending 
to the ordinary duties of his embassy, his active mind was 
continually employed in devising plans for the improve- 
ment of the condition of the human species. From Nice, 
he thus writes to Lafayette : — "I am constantly roving 
about to see what I have never seen before, and shall never 
see again. In the great cities, I go to see what travellers 
think alone worthy of being seen ; but I make a job of it, 
and generally gulp it all down in a day. On the other 
hand, I am never satiated with rambling through the fields 
and farms, examining the culture and cultivators with a de- 
gree of curiosity which makes some take me to be a fool, 
and others to be much wiser than I am. From the first 
olive fields of Pierrelatte, to the orangeries ofHieres, it has 
been continued rapture to me. I have often wished for 
you. I think you have not made this journey. It is a 
pleasure you have to come, and an improvement to be 
added to the many you have already made. It will be a 
great comfort to you to know, from your own inspection, 
the condition of all the provinces of your own country, 
and it will be interesting to them, at some future day, to be 
known to you. This is, perhaps, the only moment of your 
life, in which you can acquire that knowledge. And to do 
it most effectually, you must be absolutely incognito ; 
you must ferret the people out of their hovels, as I have 
done, look into their kettles, eat their bread, loll on their 
beds under pretence of resting yourself, but in fact to find 
if they are soft. You will feel a sublime pleasure, in the 
course of this investigation, and a sublime one hereafter, 
when you shall be able to apply your knowledge to the soft- 
ening of their beds, or the throwing a morsel of meat into 
their kettle of vegetables." 

Mr. Jefferson introduced into the south the cultivation 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 521 

of upland rice, which enables the planter to dispense with 
the Rowings of land, so destructive to human life. He 
negotiated for the introduction of our whale oil and tobacco 
into French ports ; recommended the culture of the fig, 
olive, and mulberry, in the United States ; communica- 
ted the art of stereotyping, then recently invented, and 
strove to introduce a taste for sculpture, music, and archi- 
tecture. 

In the progress and success of the French revolution he 
took a deep interest, and was often consulted by Lafayette 
and the other leaders in their most difficult emergencies. 
He one day received a note from Lafayette, informing him 
that the latter, with six or seven other persons, would dine 
with him on a certain day. Accordingly, on the day ap- 
pointed, Lafayette arrived with six or seven of the principal 
leaders of the different parties, that were then contending 
for the supremacy. After the cloth was removed, they 
calmly entered upon the discussion of the most important 
principles of government, established certain points, on 
which they might all agree, and thus, in some degree, 
softened the asperity of party feeling which had before 
prevailed. The next day, Mr. Jefferson sent to the 
minister, Montmorin, a full explanation of the occur- 
rence, with which, however, the latter was fully ac- 
quainted. 

In 1789, soon after his return from Paris, he received 
from Washington the appointment of secretary of state. 
In the performance of the duties of his office, he con- 
ducted the controversy with Spain to a successful termina- 
tion ; in a correspondence relating to our difference with 
England on the subject of impressment, he drove Mr. 
Hammond, the English minister, from the field by the force 
of his argument ; repressed the violation of our neutrality, 
committed by Genet, the French minister, and obtained 
his recall by the French government. In 1793, he re- 
signed his office, and retired to Monticello, with the in- 
tention of entering no more into public life. But in 
1797, he was chosen vice-president, in which capacity 
he served until 1801, when he became president of the 
United States. 

On his induction into office, he sedulously avoided all 
44* 



522 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

external pomp, banished the machinery designed to elicit, 
popular applause, walked from his boarding-house to the 
Capitol, with six or seven members of Congress, without 
marshals, without the white wands emblematic of power, 
simply took the oath prescribed by the constitution, and 
entered on the performance of duty. Instead of a speech, 
he sent a message to the house, requesting that no answer 
should be returned. 

He favored the acquisition of Louisiana at the cost of 
15,000,000 of dollars, by which 100,000,000 of acres were 
added to our territory. 

He recommended the building of gun-boats to take the 
place of the larger ships of war, believing that they would 
be less expensive, and more manageable; he favored the 
building of dry docks for the reception of our vessels of 
war during peace. He never ceased to regret that the 
tenure of office of the federal judges, during good be- 
havior, almost entirely removes them from the wholesome 
restraints that would be imposed by the popular will. The 
veto power, which renders the president almost a despot 
for the term of his election, Mr. Jefferson desired to see 
restricted. But so jealous was he of the rights of the peo- 
ple, and so desirous that the liberty of speech and of the 
press should be unrestrained, that he never noticed the 
political slanders that were aimed at himself, save by a 
calm and temperate denial of their truth, in his private 
communications with his friends. The Baron Humboldt, 
one day, took from a table in Jefferson's library a news- 
paper teeming with the most violent attacks on Mr. Jef- 
ferson's private character, and with great indignation in- 
quired why the power of the law was not brought upon the 
authors of such abominable lies. Jefferson, with a smile, 
replied, "What! hang the guardians of the public morals? 
No, rather would I protect the spirit of freedom, which 
dictates even that degree of abuse. Put that paper in your 
pocket, my good friend, carry it with you to Europe, and 
when you hear any one doubt the reality of American 
freedom, show them that paper, and tell them where you 
found it. Let the actions of virtuous characters refute 
such libels. When a man 'assumes a public trust, he 
should consider himself as public property." In conform- 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 523 

ity with these sentiments were his actions ; for he released 
all those who had been imprisoned for opinion's sake, 
under the sedition law. He not only acknowledged him- 
self the servant of the people,- but he acted as such. No 
man applied to him in vain for aid or advice. In one of 
his equestrian excursions, he came to a ford in a river, by 
the side of which sat a beggar unable to cross. He boldly 
asked the assistance of Mr. Jefferson, whom he did not 
know, who allowed him to mount behind, and conveyed 
him across the stream, and afterwards returned for his 
wallet, and restored it to him. 

Mr. Jefferson was often seen returning from his excur- 
sions with some flower or shrub, with which he ornamented 
the garden of the Capitol ; and the beautiful rows of trees 
extending from the Capitol to the president's house were 
planted by his hands, or under his directions. He steadily 
refused to appoint any of his relations to office, since he 
always found some one else better qualified. 

He retired from the presidency in 1809, and joyfully 
resumed his philosophical and agricultural employments at 
Monticello, at the age of sixty-six, the same age at which 
the first five presidents left the presidential chair. His re- 
ligious opinions were the subject of vehement controversy, 
one party reproaching him with atheism, and the other 
stoutly denying the truth of the allegation. His state 
papers, contrary to the custom of the times, did not 
usually contain any appeal to the Supreme Being. His 
mind was not of a religious cast, though he considered 
" the Christian religion the most perfect system that the 
world ever saw." He devoted the last years of his life 
to the welfare of the University of Virginia, established 
under his auspices, and sustained by his more than pa- 
ternal care. 

By the pecuniary sacrifices, and other losses which he 
had sustained, his affairs became embarrassed. Several 
state legislatures passed acts appropriating money for his 
relief. But before the consummation of their project, 
the object of their gratitude was no more. 

In consequence of a too free indulgence in the hot 
spring bath, his health had been failing for seven or 
eight years, and in the spring of 1826, it became evi- 



524 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

dent to himself and his friends, that his frame was fast 
sinking with debility. 

A few days before his death, a friend called to see him 
on business, and describes his interview in the following 
terms: — " There he was extended, feeble, prostrate; but 
the fine and clear expression of his countenance not at all 
obscured. At the first glance he recognized me, and his 
hand and voice saluted me. He regretted that I should 
find him so helpless, talked of the freshet then prevailing 
in James River, and said he had never known a more 
destructive one. He soon, however, passed to the uni- 
versity, expatiated on its future ability, commended the 
professors, and expressed satisfaction at the progress of 
the students. A sword was suspended at the foot of his 
bed, which he told me was presented to him by an Arabian 
chief, and that the blade was a true Damascus. At this 
time, he became so cheerful as to smile, even to laughing, 
at a remark I made. He alluded to the probability of his 
death as a man would to the prospect of being caught in a 
shower, as an event not to be desired, but not to be feared. 

" Upon proposing to withdraw, I observed that I would 
call to see him again. He said, ' Well, do; but you must 
dine here to-day.' To this I replied, ' 1 proposed delay- 
ing that pleasure till he got better.' He waved his hand, 
and shook his head with some impatience, saying emphat- 
ically, ' You must dine here to-day ; my sickness makes no 
difference.' I consented, left him, and never saw him 
more." 

On the 3d of July, he expressed his desire to live for 
one day more, that he might breathe the air of the fiftieth 
anniversary of American independence, when he would 
joyfully sing with old Simeon, " Nunc dimittas, Domine," 
" Now let me depart, O Lord." 

In the intervals of delirium, his mind reverted again to 
the scenes in which he had been a chief actor. Once he 
exclaimed, " Warn the committees to be on their guard," 
and instantly rose up in his bed, and went through the act 
of writing a hurried note. His last words were, " I have 
done for my country, and for all mankind, all that I could 
do, and I now resign my soul without fear to my God, my 
daughter to my country." He quietly passed away about 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 525 

ten minutes before one o'clock, on the 4th of July, 
1826, at the very hour in which, fifty years before, the 
Declaration of Independence was signed. 

On the same day, about five hours later, died John 
Adams, the great coadjutor of Jefferson, in passing the 
Declaration of Independence. As his great spirit took 
its flight, it left its footprint on earth in these his last 
words, — " Independence forever ; Jefferson survives." 



JAMES MADISON. 

James Madison, the fourth president of the United 
States, was born in Virginia, in 1750. Of his early life 
but little is known. In 1794, he was married to Mrs. 
Todd, widow of John Todd, Esq., a practitioner of the 
Pennsylvania bar. To the praise of his accomplished 
lady, it is known that, in her highest fortune, she did 
not neglect her early friends, but extended to all who 
approached her, those attentions which please the ex- 
alted, and inspire the humble with becoming confidence. 

The first knowledge we have of Mr. Madison, is as an 
active member of the Continental Congress, at an early 
age. To him, more than any one else, perhaps, the people 
of the United States are indebted for the constitution 
under which they live. He was a leader in the Conven- 
tion that framed it, and the most influential of its sup- 
porters in the Virginia Convention that adopted it. An 
interesting summary of Mr. Madison's opinions on the 
subject of confederation, will be found in the twenty- 
fifth volume of the North American Review. These 
opinions were addressed to General Washington, in a 
letter previous to the Convention in Philadelphia. 

At the outset of the federal government, Mr. Madison 
proposed a tax upon imported goods and tonnage. Much 
opposition was excited, but finally overcome by his argu- 
ments, and the measure agreed to. His plan favored the 
commerce of France, rather than that of Great Britain. 
This proposition was in 1789. In 1794, he submitted to 
the house his famous commercial resolutions. The sub- 
stance of these resolutions was, that the interest of the 
United States would be promoted by further restrictions 



526 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

and higher duties, and that provision ought to be made 
for ascertaining the losses sustained by American citizens, 
from the operation of particular regulations of any country 
contravening the law of nations; and that these losses be 
reimbursed, in the first instance, out of the additional 
duties on the manufactures and vessels of countries es- 
tablishing such regulations. These were brought for- 
ward during Washington's administration. 

A correct estimate of Mr. Madison's worth as a public 
servant, induced Jefferson, when entering upon his duties 
as president, to appoint him to the office of secretary of 
state. At the expiration of Mr. Jefferson's second term, 
Mr. Madison was elected to the presidential chair; and 
on the 4th of March, 1809, he was inducted into the 
office of chief magistrate, with the usual formalities. 

If we may judge from the expressions of his inaugural 
address, the weighty responsibilities of the office now ten- 
dered him by the suffrages of a free people, were duly ap- 
preciated. But he shrunk not. With a steady hand, and 
an honest heart, he entered upon the discharge of his duties. 

The " orders in council " of the British government 
were in full force. Their effect upon this country was 
felt severely. Non-intercourse on our part was enforced. 
Various efforts were made on the part of each government 
for an adjustment, but ineffectually. The alienation of 
feeling, and real injury inflicted by commercial prohibi- 
tions, were perhaps greater than could have come of actual 
war. After frequent collisions, and protracted delays be- 
tween the two governments, President Madison sent a 
message to Congress, recapitulating causes of complaint 
against Britain, and recommending a formal declaration 
of war, which was made June 18, 1812. 

During this year, at the commencement of the war, the 
president had a "talk" with the Indians, which may be 
considered as the manifesto of the American government, 
establishing the principles of its intercourse with them. 
It contained sentiments honorable to himself and country, 
and beautifully and appropriately expressed. 

About the same time, in view of a strong feeling of dis- 
sent to the war, shown by the Eastern States, the governor 
of Canada had the audacity to send an agent to New Eng- 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 527 

land, to propose measures dishonorable and schismatic. 
Mr. Madison brought this thing at once before Congress, 
without preferring any complaint to the British govern- 
ment. The effect was to inflame the American people 
against England, and to screw up the public mind to 
that pitch requisite to overlook the risk and expenses of 
the war. 

During the invasion of the capital by the British, the 
president retired into Virginia, and, for the time, estab- 
lished the government at Fredericktown, when he issued a 
proclamation calling upon all to unite their energies, in 
giving effect to the ample means possessed for " chastising 
and expelling the invader." 

On the 17th of February, 1815, the president and 
Senate ratified the treaty of Ghent, and thus were freed 
from the horrors of a war declared just two years and 
eight months before. This event was followed by com- 
mercial treaties between the two countries on equitable 
terms. But English commodities were thus brought 
into successful competition with American manufactures. 
These demanded protection, and the president, jealous 
of the decline of manufactures, through British rivalry, 
soon recommended in his messages prohibitory measures 
and conservative duties. 

The expiration of his second term in the office of pres- 
ident now arrived, and Mr. Madison retired altogether 
from public life, and passed the remainder of his days 
in a dignified and honorable retirement, living in the 
strictest privacy at his seat in Montpelier, Virginia. 

In August, 1830, he wrote an admirable and conclusive 
letter on the agitated topic of nullification. It was ad- 
dressed to Mr. Edward Everett, of Massachusetts. It 
indicates a familiarity with the constitution peculiar to 
him, and is worthy to be impressed upon the mind and 
heart of every citizen. 

During the latter part of his life, Mr. Madison was asso- 
ciated with Mr. Jefferson in the institution of the University 
of Virginia, and, after his decease, was placed at its head, 
with the title of rector. He was also president of an agri- 
cultural society in the county of his residence. 

Thus did he occupy his declining years. And on the 



528 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

anniversary of the day on which the Virginia Convention 
ratified the adoption of the constitution, of which James 
Madison was the father, this philosopher, statesman, and 
patriot, sunk without a struggle to the grave, and his soul 
became a resident in the " spirit land." He died at his 
seat in Montpelier, Virginia, on the 21st day of June, 1836, 
at the advanced age of eighty-six years. Peace to his 
memory ! 



JAMES MONROE. 

James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States, 
was born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, September, 
1759. His ancestors had for many years resided in the 
province where he was born. 

When the colonies declared themselves a free and inde- 
pendent nation, James Monroe, now in his seventeenth 
year, was completing his classical education at the College 
of Willia'm and Mary. His youth precluded him from an 
active participation in the controversies which agitated the 
country. But upon the first formation of the American 
army, young Monroe, then only eighteen years of age, left 
college, repaired to General Washington's head-quarters at 
New York, and enrolled himself as a cadet in the regiment 
commanded by Colonel Mercer. The young cadet es- 
poused the cause of his injured country with a firm de- 
termination to live or die with her struggle for liberty. 
He shared all the defeats and privations which attended 
the footsteps of the army of Washington, through the dis- 
astrous battles of Flatbush, Haerlem Heights, and White 
Plains. He was present at the subsequent evacuation of 
New York and Long Island, at the surrender of Fort 
Washington, and the retreat through the Jerseys. After 
having participated in the adversities of the gallant defend- 
ers of his country, he rejoiced with them in great and un- 
expected success. 

At the battle of Trenton, he led the vanguard, and in the 
act of charging upon the enemy, he received a wound in 
his left shoulder, the scar of which remained until his 
death. He was promoted a captain of infantry, served, 
during the campaigns of 1777 and 1778, as aid-de-camp in 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS, 529 

the staff of Lord Stirling, and endeavored to collect a regi- 
ment for the Virginia line, which was recommended by 
Washington, and authorized by the state legislature. This 
did not succeed. He then entered the office of Mr. Jef- 
ferson, at that time governor of Virginia, and pursued the 
study of the common law. He served as a volunteer dur- 
ing the two years of his legal pursuits. 

In 1782, he entered upon a different field of action, as 
the supporter of a system of laws in a government he had 
fought and bled to establish. During this year, he was 
elected, by King George county, a member of the legisla- 
ture of Virginia, and by that body elevated to a seat in 
the executive council. 

On the 9th of June, 1783, he was chosen a member of 
Congress, and on the 13th of December took his seat at 
Annapolis ; the same day on which, at the same place, 
the illustrious leader of the victorious revolutionary army 
resigned his commission. For three years he was a useful 
member of the confederate Congress, and retired from 
Congress at the expiration of this term, as, by the articles 
of confederation, no one was allowed to serve more than 
three years in six. About this time, he formed a matrimo- 
nial alliance with Miss Kortvvright, of New York city, a 
lady celebrated for her beauty and conversational powers, 
whose external accomplishments, however, were surpassed 
by those of her mind, and those endearing qualities of the 
heart which cheer the gloom of existence. 

In 1787, he established himself in Fredericksburg, Vir- 
ginia, and, in 1788, he was chosen a member of the 
Virginia Convention to decide upon the federal constitu- 
tion. He opposed its adoption in the form presented, pro- 
posing sundry amendments. Upon the death of the Hon- 
orable William Grayson, in December, 1789, Mr. Monroe 
was chosen to fill the vacancy thus occasioned in the 
Senate of the United States, which he filled until 1794. 
He favored the objects of the French revolution, and 
violently opposed President Washington's proclamation 
of neutrality. At the expiration of his senatorial office, 
he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to France. 
He was received in that country with splendid cere- 
mony by the National Convention, as one who strongly 
45 



530 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

favored the revolution. At the close of Washington's 
administration he was recalled. On his return to the 
United States, he published a work, in explanation of 
his own opinions and proceedings, in an octavo volume 
of four hundred and seven pages. 

At a subsequent period, with the true nobility of a mind 
which disdains to cherish preconceived opinions if errone- 
ous, he cast off all remembrance of past animosity, and 
harmonized in an entire and perfect veneration of the 
character and policy of Washington. 

In 1799, Mr. Monroe was elected governor of Virginia, 
which office he filled three years. He was appointed, on 
the 11th of January, 1803, envoy extraordinary to France, 
and in April of the same year minister plenipotentiary to 
England. The next year, he was appointed minister to 
Spain, in connection with Mr. William Pinckney, for the 
purpose of settling a disputed question of boundary. He 
remained at Madrid five months. From thence he re- 
turned to London, where, in 1806, he was joined by Mr. 
Pinckney. Their mission ended in 1807, when they re- 
turned home. For a little while he enjoyed uninterrupted 
quiet, but, in 1808, wae again elected to the office of gov- 
ernor of Virginia, served three years, and, in 1811, was 
appointed, by President Madison, secretary of state. Upon 
the resignation of the secretary of war, Mr. Monroe dis- 
charged voluntarily all the duties of the war department, 
beside his own. He was regularly appointed secretary of 
war in 1814. He devoted his energies to that exclusive 
department until the return of peace, then reassumed the 
office of secretary of state, by appointment, and continued 
therein until the close of Madison's administration. 

On the 5th of March, 1817, Mr. Monroe was inaugurated 
president of the United States. Among the early appoint- 
ments of the president, was Mr. John Quincy Adams, as 
secretary of state. About the 1st of June, the president 
left Washington on a tour through the states, which elicit- 
ed a most general expression of kindness, respect, and 
courtesy. After the session of Congress held 1817-18, 
the president left Washington, accompanied by the secre- 
taries of war and the navy, to survey the Chesapeake Bay, 
and the country lying on its extensive shores, most exposed 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 531 

to the invasions of an enemy. At the close of his first 
term, President Monroe was reelected by a unanimous 
vote, with the single exception of one electoral vote in 
New Hampshire, which was for J. Q,. Adams. This indi- 
cated the confidence of a free people in their president. 

The administration of Mr. Monroe closed on the 3d of 
March, 1825. He retired to his residence in Loudon 
county, Virginia, where he discharged the ordinary judi- 
cial functions of a magistrate, and also of the curator of 
the University of Virginia. In the winter of 1829-30, he 
served as a member of the Convention called to revise the 
constitution of Virginia. He was unanimously chosen to 
preside ; but, before the close of the labors of the Conven- 
tion, he was compelled to retire, because of severe illness. 
The ensuing summer, he was bereaved by death of his be- 
loved partner. Soon after this, he removed to New York 
city, where the flickering la.np of life held out its linger- 
ing flame, until the dawning of the glorious day of a 
nation's birth and glory, when the soldier and the states- 
man was folded in the embrace of death, on the 4th 
of July, 1831, aged seventy-two years. 

" Such was the man who presents the only example of 
one whose public life commenced with the war of inde- 
pendence, and is identified with all the important events 
of our history, for a full half century." 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 

John Q,uincy Adams, the sixth president, was born 
1767. His ancestors resided in America from 1630, near 
a century and a half before the revolution. Thus early 
rooted in the soil, a warm attachment to the cause and 
rights of America has been, from generation to generation, 
the birthright of the family. The principles of American 
independence and freedom were instilled into the mind of 
John Quincy in the very dawn of his existence. 

From the eleventh year of his age, until the eighteenth, 
he resided for the most part in Europe, having accom- 
panied his father when appointed as a joint commissioner 
to France, with Franklin and Lee. When only fourteen 



53£ THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

years of age, he was selected by Mr. F. Dana, minister to 
Russia, as the private secretary of that mission. After 
remaining in Europe seven years, and being a visitant, for 
a longer or shorter time, of France, Spain, Holland, Rus- 
sia, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and England, he so- 
licited permission of his father to return to his native 
country, which was granted. On his return to America, 
he entered Cambridge College. In 1787, he left college, 
and commenced the study of law, at Newburyport, in the 
office of Mr. Theophilus Parsons; whence, after com- 
pleting his law studies, he became a resident at the capital 
of Massachusetts. 

In April, 1793, Mr. Adams published a short series of 
papers, to prove that the duty and interest of the United 
States required neutrality, in the contest between England 
and France. These were published before President Wash- 
ington's proclamation of neutrality. He was the first to 
express publicly the views on the difficult topic of inter- 
national law, respecting our treaty of alliance with France, 
which were confirmed by the proclamation of the presi- 
dent. Mr. Adams's essays in support of the administra- 
tion were read and admired throughout the country ; and 
his reputation was now established as an American states- 
man, patriot, and political writer of the first order, at the 
early age of twenty-seven. 

In 1794, President Washington appointed Mr. Adams 
to the office of minister resident to the Netherlands ; and 
near the close of Washington's administration, Mr. Adams 
was appointed minister plenipotentiary to Portugal, but, by 
the advice of Washington, and the appointment of his fa- 
ther, John Adams, then president, his destination was 
changed to Prussia; whence he was recalled in 1801. 
During this last year of his residence in Germany, he made 
an excursion into the province of Silesia, describing it in 
a series of letters, that have been collected and published 
in a volume, and have been translated into French and 
German, and extensively circulated in Europe. 

In 1802, Mr. Adams was elected to the Senate of Mas- 
sachusetts, from Boston district; and, in 1S03, he was, 
by the legislature, elected to the Senate of the United 
States, for six years, from March 4th, 1803. During the 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 533 

time he filled this office, he was an efficient supporter of 
Mr. Jefferson's administration, although he bore the name 
of the opposite party in politics. In pursuing this inde- 
pendent course, Mr. Adams incurred the disapprobation of 
the legislature of Massachusetts, who, by a small majority 
of votes, in 180S, elected another person as senator from 
the expiration of his term, and passed resolutions of in- 
struction to their senators, containing principles which Mr. 
Adams disapproved. Not willing to conform to these in- 
structions, nor misrepresent his constituents, he resigned 
his place in the United States Senate. 

In 1809, President Madison appointed him minister to 
Russia. Through his influence with the Emperor Alex- 
ander, the mediation of Russia was tendered between 
England and the United States. He was placed by Madi- 
son at the head of the commission of five, by which the 
treaty of peace between the two countries was negotiated. 
The cogency and skill manifested by that commission 
drew from the marquis of Wellesley, in the British House 
of Lords, the declaration, that, in his opinion, "the Ameri- 
can commissioners had shown the most astonishing supe- 
riority over the British, during the whole of the corre- 
spondence." 

After the war was thus closed by an honorable treaty, 
being appointed minister at London, he remained there 
until 1817 ; when he was recalled, and, by President Mon- 
roe, appointed secretary of state. Of this appointment, 
General Jackson said, in a letter to the president, dated 
March 18th, " I have no hesitation in saying you have 
made the best selection to fill the department of state, and 
I am convinced that his appointment will afford general 
satisfaction." Mr. Adams is mostly entitled to the credit 
of the measures adopted during Monroe's administration, 
in reference to the foreign policy of the government, the 
successful termination of our difficulties with Spain, the 
indemnity of our merchants, and the addition of East 
and West Florida to our republic. 

Such are specimens of his claims to the highest gift 

which the people can bestow on a long-tried and faithful 

servant. Various circumstances conspired to strengthen 

his claims, in the presidential canvass, for the term begin- 

45* 



534 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

ning in 1S25. Of the several candidates presented to the 
people at this election, Mr. Adams was the only one repre- 
senting the non-slaveholding states. Had the choice been 
between him and any other candidate singly, Mr. Adams 
would probably have been chosen by the votes of the peo- 
ple. In consequence of the number of votes, no choice 
by the people was effected. The election devolved upon 
the House of Representatives, and Mr. Adams was chosen. 

On the 4th of March, 1825, President Adams was 
inaugurated. During his administration, General La- 
fayette took leave of the people, on his return to France. 
It was thought proper that his departure should be from 
the Capitol. On this occasion, the farewell address was 
delivered by President Adams, which is one of the most 
favorable specimens of his eloquence. 

The administration of President Adams was without 
regard to the distinctions of party. In the distribution of 
offices, he asked merely as to the qualifications of the can- 
didates. In a word, he acted with that stern and fearless 
integrity which has marked the whole course of his politi- 
cal life. 

Notwithstanding the integrity of his course, a deep- 
rooted hostility was manifested, in efforts to embarrass his 
administration. But still the country progressed rapidly 
in wealth and prosperity. The great works of internal 
improvements were prosecuted with much spirit and vigor. 
During his continuance in office, new and increased 
activity was imparted to those powers invested in the fed- 
eral government, for the development of the resources of 
the country. Indeed, more had been directly effected in 
this respect, than during the administration of all his pred- 
ecessors. About fourteen million dollars were expended 
for the permanent benefit of the country during the four 
years he was chief magistrate. 

In this condition was the country when his administra- 
tion ended — an administration marked by definite and 
consistent policy and energetic councils, and governed 
by upright motives, but from the beginning devoted to the 
most violent opposition. 

Since he was succeeded in the presidency by General 
Jackson, Mr. Adams has still taken an active part in 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 535 

public affairs, and represented his native district in Con- 
gress. He occupies the position in that body to which 
his eminent talents and distinguished services fully en- 
title him. His speeches are marked with the stern and 
singular independence which has characterized his whole 
life, and command the respect and attention which must 
always be awarded to a man of fearless and uncompromis- 
ing integrity. Long may he be spared to the councils of 
the nation — long enough to witness the demolition of party 
prejudices, and to enjoy the fruition of that fame, which 
has been purchased by the devotion of a life to the service 
of his country ! 



ANDREW JACKSON. 
Andrew Jackson was born at Waxsaw, about forty-five 
miles above Camden, South Carolina, on the fifteenth of 
March, 1767, He was placed at school at the academy in 
his native town, where he remained until the British made 
irruptions into that region, and compelled the inhabitants 
to join either the American or British standard, or to for- 
sake their country. Andrew and his brother Robert hast- 
ened to join the American army. The corps to which 
they belonged was surprised, and eleven of them taken 
prisoners, while the rest fled into the woods for conceal- 
ment. Andrew and his brother escaped, by entering the 
bend of a creek, where they remained through the night 
But, on the next day, they entered a house at hand, to 
procure food, where they were taken prisoners by a party 
of dragoons. The British officers determined to employ 
them in menial occupations, and thus to quench their bold 
spirits. An officer ordered our hero to clean his boots, and, 
on his refusing to do so, struck at him with a sword, by 
which he was wounded in the left arm. For a refusal to 
obey a similar command, his brother was severely wounded 
on the head, and probably his death hastened thereby. 
His mother died soon after his brother Robert, leaving 
Andrew the sole remaining member of the family. He 
soon after entered on the study of the law with Judge 
McCay and Col. John Stokes, of Salisbury, North Carolina. 
In 1786, he obtained a license to practise law, and soon 



536 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN, 

after removed to Nashville, Tennessee, where he entered 
on an extensive and profitable practice. He was appointed 
to the office of attorney-general, which he held for several 
years. 

Even at this early period of his life, he manifested 
the military genius that in after years gave him an 
elevated rank among the defenders of his country. In 
the year 1796, he was appointed a member of the Con- 
vention for framing a state constitution, and the same 
year elected a member of the House of Representatives 
in Congress. The next year, he was elected to the Senate • 
but, finding his situation disagreeable, he resigned his seat 9 
and was chosen to succeed General Conway in the com- 
mand of the militia of Tennessee. 

In 1812, he raised a corps of two thousand five hundred 
volunteers, joined the United States army, and was ordered 
to Natchez, Mississippi, a distance of about six hundred 
miles. After a long and toilsome march through the for- 
est, he reached his destination, encamped his army on an 
elevated position, and awaited further orders. The danger 
of invasion having in some degree subsided, he received 
orders from the secretary of war to disband his troops, 
and transfer his stores to General Wilkinson. An order 
so manifestly unjust he hesitated not to disobey. His 
army, with tears in their eyes, implored him not to leave 
them to the alternative of enlisting in the United States 
army, or of begging their way to their homes in Tennes- 
see. General Wilkinson had given orders for his officers 
to enlist men from Jackson's division : but, the latter hav- 
ing threatened to punish any man that should dare to enter 
his camp with such a design, the attempt was abandoned. 
Having made the necessary preparations, he commenced 
his march homeward. The roads were almost impassable 
from the recent rains, and the swamps and streams which 
they were compelled to cross were full. But the spirits 
and fortitude of their general inspired the soldiers with 
confidence in him and in themselves, and his participation 
in their severest trials — he having given up his horses for 
the transportation of the sick — repressed every inclination 
to murmur. His whole division at length arrived at the 
place of their departure, and were disbanded. 



LIVES OE THE PRESIDENTS. 537 

About this time, the bold Tecumseh, and his crafty 
brother, the prophet, were busily engaged in the execution 
of a scheme, which would have been worthy of the admi- 
ration and respect even of those who were their destined 
victims, had not the traces of British influence been mani- 
fest in all their operations. Their design contemplated the 
array in deadly hostility of all the Indians on our northern 
and western frontiers, and the massacre, on a day ap- 
pointed, of all the frontier inhabitants. To effect their 
design, it was necessary to arouse all the fierce and vindic- 
tive passions of the savages. This was without difficulty 
effected ; but it was impossible to restrain them till the 
appointed time. Parties of the northern tribes were con- 
tinually making depredations on the frontiers. At Fort 
Mimms, Mississippi, about one hundred and fifty men, with 
a large number of women and children, were assembled. 
The Indians, to the number of six or seven hundred, car- 
ried the fort by assault, and put to death about three hun- 
dred persons. When news of this outrage arrived in Ten- 
nessee, the whole state was ready to march and avenge 
its slaughtered, hapless children. An expedition into the 
heart of the Creek country was immediately planned. 
Volunteers were called into the field, at whose head Gen- 
eral Jackson was placed, though he was laboring under 
the effects of a broken limb. He promptly assumed the 
command, issued the necessary camp orders, and pro- 
ceeded to obtain the requisite supplies. In effecting this 
purpose, he met with unexpected difficulties : the contract- 
ors found themselves unable to fulfil their engagements, 
and Jackson was compelled to have recourse to other 
means of supply ; but, after all his exertions, he found his 
army but ill provided with the stores necessary to carry on 
a vigorous campaign. 

Learning from the Indian runners, whom he employed 
to obtain information, that the enemy were collected in 
force on the south side of the River Coosa, General 
Jackson detached General Coffee, with nine hundred men, 
to attack them. On their arrival in the vicinity of the 
enemy, two companies were sent forward to draw them 
from their camp, who, after a few shots, commenced a re- 



538 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

treat, followed by the Indians, yelling and fighting as they 
came on : on reaching the main body of the Americans, 
they were received with a tremendous discharge of mus- 
ketry, and, fighting desperately, and contesting the ground 
inch by inch, were driven back to their encampment, 
which was taken, the enemy completely routed, and a large 
number of them were killed or taken prisoners. For sev- 
eral months General Jackson continued to attack the 
enemy, having to contend with the machinations of jeal- 
ous rivals, and with the discontents of his soldiers, arising 
from an almost entire destitution of provisions. 

Seated one day at the root of a tree, making a repast on 
acorns, the general saw a soldier approach, who complained 
that he was nearly starved, and was destitute of the means 
of procuring any food. " I make it a point," said the gen- 
eral, " never to turn away a hungry man, when it is in my 
power to relieve him, and will most cheerfully divide with 
you whatever I have," at the same time offering him a 
handful of scorns. The soldier returned to his company, 
and reported that the general lived on acorns, and that 
they ought no more to complain. 

The militia, however, who had little experience in the 
sufferings of the soldier's life, were the first to revolt and 
abandon the camp. The general ordered the volunteers, 
who still remained faithful, to form in front of the muti- 
neers, and prevent their farther progress. The militia, 
fearful of the result if they persisted, yielded and returned 
to their camp. The next day, the general found the volun- 
teers in the condition of the militia the day before. But a 
short time elapsed before the militia were drawn up in 
arms to reduce to obedience the very men who had a few 
hours before conferred on them a similar benefit ; the vol- 
unteers returned, much mortified, to their duty. But the 
discontent was not yet arrested. General Jackson had 
promised to accompany them in their departure, unless re- 
lief should arrive in two days. The time having elapsed 
without the expected arrival, the militia claimed the fulfil- 
ment of his pledge ; he began, accordingly, to make prepara- 
tions for their departure. They had marched but a few 
miles before they met a hundred and fifty beeves, and the 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 339 

general determined to return to the post they had just left ; 
the troops refused obedience, and began to move off in a 
body. Alone, surrounded by discontented and angry men, 
deprived of the use of his left arm, he met the crisis with a 
mind that was never known to quail in the presence of 
danger ; he seized a musket, and, resting it on the neck of 
his horse, cast himself in front of the column, threatening 
to shoot the first man that attempted to advance. Here he 
was found by Major Reid and General Coifee, who awaited 
the result by his side. 

The whole column, for several minutes, preserved a sul- 
len silence, while two companies, that had remained faith- 
ful, formed behind the general, with orders to fire as soon 
as he should give the example. The contagion of fear 
was soon communicated from one to the other, and one by 
one the whole column turned and marched back. 

The ensuing campaign began under the same disadvan- 
tages that had nearly defeated the former. General Jack- 
son determined no longer to submit to the delay of con- 
tractors, sent agents to the nearest settlements to make 
purchases, at any price, on the credit of the contractors, 
which immediately brought them to terms, and insured 
a plentiful supply during the rest of the campaign. After 
several successive defeats, having even been driven from the 
Hickory Ground, which, from its sacred character, they be- 
lieved would never be pressed by the foot of a white man, 
the Indians sued for and obtained peace. On the resigna- 
tion of General Harrison, General Jackson received the 
appointment of major-general in the army of the United 
States. His attention was immediately directed to the 
conduct of the Spanish authorities of Florida, where he 
learned that three hundred English soldiers had been suf- 
fered to land, and that they were engaged in exciting the 
Indians to hostilities. 

He demanded of the Spanish governor of Pensacola the 
observance of his neutrality. An acrimonious correspond- 
ence ensued between them, which had no other result than 
to inflame still more the indignation of General Jackson. 
Colonel Nichols, a British officer, now arrived at Pensa- 
cola, with a small squadron, and took his head-quarters 
with Governor Maurequez. He issued a proclamation to 



540 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

the southern inhabitants of the United States, informing 
them of his desire of delivering them from bondage, prom- 
ising them relief and protection, and pledging the honor 
of a British officer, that he would perform all he had prom- 
ised. He awaited for a short time the effect of his proc- 
lamation, and then advanced to the attack of Fort Bow- 
yer, from which he was driven with the loss of a ship of 
war and one eye. 

General Jackson now prepared to take possession of 
Pensacola, intending to hold possession of its forts and 
arsenals until Spain could send thither a sufficient force 
to preserve her neutrality. He first sent a flag of truce, 
which was fired on. He then sent a letter to the governor 
by a Spaniard, who had been taken prisoner. The gov- 
ernor rejected his proposals, and General Jackson attacked 
the town, which in a short time surrendered. The forts 
were blown up, and the British retired to their shipping in 
the bay. 

Every movement of the enemy now proved to General 
Jackson, that New Orleans was their principal object. 
He therefore urged the governors of the different Southern 
States to send in, with all speed, men and supplies, with 
which he determined to defend the city or perish in the 
attempt. His call was not neglected. The governors of 
Tennessee and Kentucky made great exertions to comply 
with the demands of Jackson ; and, although the troops thus 
obtained did not increase his forces sufficiently to banish 
his fears as to the result, General Jackson never despaired 
of being able to meet the enemy at all points. He now 
stationed a force at every inlet or creek, where he be- 
lieved there was the smallest chance for the enemy to 
approach. The American flotilla, of five gun-boats and 
two hundred and eighty-two men, was captured by that of 
the enemy, consisting of forty-three boats and twelve hun- 
dred men. The next day, Mr. Shields, purser of the navy, 
with Dr. Murrell, was despatched with a flag of truce to 
Cat Island, to relieve the wounded Americans who were 
there prisoners. The British admiral, believing their visit 
to have been intended for the purpose of observation, de- 
tained them, and endeavored to learn from them the situa- 
tion and number of the forces of General Jackson. 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 541 

Mr. Shields, from the moment he was taken, became 
very deaf t and the British officer, failing to elicit from them 
the least information, determined to put them in a room 
together, and place some one at hand, to listen to their 
conversation. Suspecting something of the kind, they 
framed their discourse to suit their own purposes. After 
speaking of their condition and prospects, and their defeat 
of all attempts of the British to obtain information from 
them, Shields continued, — " But how greatly these gen- 
tlemen will be disappointed in their expectations! for 
Jackson, with the twenty thousand men he now has, and 
the reinforcements from Kentucky which must speedily 
reach him, will be able to destroy any force that can be 
landed from these ships." All this was heard by the Brit- 
ish, and no doubt contributed to the abandonment of their 
design so soon after their defeat. 

General Jackson continued his preparations for resist- 
ance. Patroles were stationed through the country to 
convey to him whatever information they could obtain. 
The legislature of the state laid an embargo on all vessels 
in the port, that their crews might be placed in the navy, 
and that the enemy might not be supplied thereby with 
provisions. Surrounded with spies and disaffected per- 
sons, General Jackson suggested to the legislature the 
necessity of suspending the execution of the writ of habeas 
corpus. But they moved so slowly, and entered the work 
with so much reluctance, that he assumed the responsibil- 
ity, and at once declared martial law. With all the vigi- 
lance he had exercised, he had the mortification to learn 
that the British had landed unobserved through an ob- 
scure bayou, and had made prisoners of a company of 
militia, on the Mississippi. He ordered the signal guns 
for battle to be fired, marched through the streets of the 
city to meet the enemy below, surrounded on all sides with 
screaming women and children. Compassionating their 
distress, he requested an aid-de-camp to tell them, in 
French, that the enemy should never reach the city. The 
effect was immediate, Quiet and confidence were re- 
stored. Under cover of night, General Coffee advanced 
towards the British lines. The ship of war Caroline was 
directed to fall down the river, and open a fire on the 
46 



542 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

British camp, which was to be the signal of attack by land. 
As the Caroline floated slowly down the river, she was 
hailed, by the first picket, in a low voice ; but, no answer 
being returned, she was supposed to be a vessel sent by the 
disaffected in New Orleans, loaded with provisions for the 
British, and permitted to anchor in a place opposite to 
the very middle of the encampment ; where suddenly she 
opened a most destructive fire, and compelled the British 
to leave their camp, and take refuge in the surrounding 
darkness. 

General Coffee had not yet reached the British, and, 
pressing on as fast as possible for that purpose, unexpect- 
edly received the fire of their whole line. He charged 
them in turn, and drove them from ditch to ditch, whenever 
they made a stand, until they reached a branch of the 
levee, behind which they were sheltered from the Ameri- 
can fire, and from which it was believed to be too dangerous 
to attempt to dislodge them. Meanwhile, on the right, where 
General Jackson commanded, the Americans were equal- 
ly successful, and the British were thrice beaten, and had 
retreated for nearly a mile. Learning the strong position 
taken by the British on the left, General Jackson found it 
necessary to relinquish the idea, which he had hitherto 
entertained, of capturing the army, and concluded to re- 
main in the defensive. He strengthened his defences by 
every means in his power, filling the breastwork with 
bags of cotton, and felt fully prepared to give the enemy a 
reception which would banish all desire of further ac- 
quaintance. 

On the morning of the 8th of January, information was 
brought to the lines, that the enemy, in full force, were ad- 
vancing rapidly to the attack. The outposts had hardly time 
to come in before the British came in sight. A rocket 
from each end of their line was the signal to commence 
their fire. They filled the air with rockets, shells, and 
cannon balls, and approached with a confidence and stead- 
see I to insure victory. But now the Ameri- 
cans poured in up^n them, from every part of their line, a 
most tremendou fire f musketry, cannon, and grape shot, 
which annihilated the front of the column, and piled a 
rampart of dead bodies in front of the British line ; they 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 543 

wavered for a moment, and, with the exception of a few 
braver than the rest, retreated before the range of the 
American guns. General Puckenham, on the first appear- 
ance of hesitation in his advancing columns, placed him- 
self at their head, and urged them on ; but it was but for 
a moment; he immediately fell, pierced with bullets. Gen- 
erals Gibbs and Keene were carried, wounded, from the 
field. Almost maddened with desperation, General Lambert, 
and the surviving officers, again urged the army to the con- 
flict, and again the brave fellows advanced, to become vic- 
tims for the American riflemen, who never desired a larger 
mark than a squirrel or a tree-top. Again the roll of the 
American musketry began, and continued without one 
moment's intermission, sounding not like a discharge of 
fire-arms, but like a peal of thunder, of which the sound 
died not away. It was too much even for the flower of 
Wellington's army, the bravest soldiers in Europe, to with- 
stand ; they rushed in confusion from the field, leaving it, 
for the space of three hundred yards, along the whole 
front of the American line, covered with the dead and 
wounded, over whom they were compelled to leap, in ef- 
fecting their retreat, often slipping down upon the field, in 
the blood of their slaughtered comrades. The British 
retired within their lines ; and, despairing, with their weak- 
ened and dispirited forces, of success in attempting to dis- 
lodge the Americans, they retreated to their shipping, Gen- 
eral Lambert having written a request to the conqueror 
that their wounded should be provided with assistance. In 
a few days, news of peace arrived, and filled every heart 
with unmingled joy. 

A treaty with Spain having been effected, by which that 
power consented to cede Florida to the United States, 
General Jackson, with a salary of $5000, was appointed 
governor, and fulfilled the duties of his office until Sep- 
tember, when, having effected his object in gaining com- 
plete possession of Florida, he returned to Tennessee. 

He was next appointed minister to Mexico, but declined 
to serve in that capacity, since he could not consistently 
recognize the claims of the emperor. 

He was then elected to the United States Senate, 
where he displayed the same zeal and activity in the ser- 



544 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

vice of his country, which had characterized his military 
career. 

In the mean time, having been selected as a candidate 
for the presidency, he resigned his seat, and returned to 
his family in Tennessee. He was elected president of the 
United States, and was inaugurated on the fourth of March, 
1829. Among the measures adopted during his adminis- 
tration, were the modification of the tariff, the veto of the 
Maysville road bill, the removal of the Georgia Indians, 
the veto of the bill rechartering the United States Bank, 
the defeat of nullification, the removal of the depos- 
its in the United States Bank, and the recovery of indem- 
nity for the aggressions of Brazil, Denmark, and France. 
He was elected for a second term to the presidency, and, 
at the close of his administration, retired from public life, 
to enjoy the pleasures afforded by agricultural pursuits, and 
the quiet essential to the comfort of his declining age. 



MARTIN VAN BUREN. 

Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United 
States, was born at Kinderhook, New York state, De- 
cember 5th, 1782. His parents were of Dutch descent, 
and in humble circumstances. The elements of his 
education were received at an academy in his native 
village, which he left at the age of fourteen, and com- 
menced the study of the law, in the office of Francis Syl- 
vester, Esq., which study he finished in the city of New 
York, with Mr. William P. Van Ness. He was admitted 
to the bar of the Supreme Court in 1803, and commenced 
practice at Kinderhook. He removed to Hudson in 1809 ; 
was elected a member of the state Senate, 1812; and, in 
1815, was appointed attorney-general of the state, from 
which office he was removed, by a revolution in politics, 
1819, which elevated another party. 

From 1811 to 1813, Mr. Van Buren was identified with 
that class of politicians opposed to the war with England, 
but subsequently advocated the propriety of the war, and 
was an efficient supporter of President Madison. On the 
6th February, 1821, he was appointed by the New York 
legislature a member of the United States Senate. In 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 545 

August following, he was a member of the Convention 
called to revise the constitution of the state of New York. 
In December, 1821, he took his seat in the United States 
Senate. During the presidential canvass, which resulted 
in the election of John Quincy Adams, Van Buren was 
a zealous supporter of Mr. Crawford, and distinguished 
for his zeal and activity against Adams's administration. 

In November, 1828, Mr. Van Buren was elected gov- 
ernor of New York state. Though his gubernatorial 
career was brief, it was signalized by the adoption of the 
safety fund system, which combined the moneyed interests 
of the empire state in an indissoluble league of mutual de- 
pendence. On the 12th of March, he resigned the office 
of governor, being appointed by President Jackson to the 
office of secretary of state. In April, 1831, he resigned 
this station, assigning various reasons satisfactory to the 
president, who appointed him the same year to succeed 
Mr. McLane as minister to St. James. This appointment 
was not confirmed by the Senate. His rejection by this 
body was deemed by his friends a " proscriptive act," but 
was more than made amends for by his election, in 1833, to 
the office of vice-president, by virtue of which he presided 
over the same body that so recently rejected him as min- 
ister to England. 

More through the influence of party feeling and the ap- 
proval of President Jackson, than from personal popu- 
larity, he was elected to the office of president of the 
United States, and was inaugurated March 4, 1837. His 
presidential career was one of difficulty, doubt, and peril, 
owing to the unfortunate derangement of our fiscal affairs, 
and the generally embarrassed state of the country. 

His administration was far from being a popular one; 
and he had to contend with a violent opposition. No 
pains were spared to prevent his reelection ; and in this 
success was realized. He was succeeded by General 
William H. Plarrison in the presidency, and retired to his 
native place in New York state, where he now is residing. 

What subsequent changes may occur in the political 

world, to bring him out again into public life, is not 

known ; but, from the counter current now set in, there 

is a probability that the next change in the administration 

46* 



546 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

will see the party that elevated Mr. Van Buren to the 
presidency again in power. 

Whether or not his age or inclination will again favor 
active participation in public life, or continued retirement 
for the future, remains to be seen. The latter would prob- 
ably be in accordance with the dignity ui" an ex-president 
of the United States. 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 

William Henry Harrison was born at Berkley, in 
Charles county, Virginia, on the 9th of February, 1773, 
and was educated at Hampden Sidney College. He lost 
his father in 1791, and found himself poor in the gifts of 
fortune, but rich in the lessons of liberty and patriotism, 
derived from his noble father. He commenced the study 
of medicine, and pursued it with earnest devotion, until 
the war-whoop of the Indians, in the north-west, aroused 
in his mind an ardent desire to distinguish himself 
among the defenders of his country. Though this incli- 
nation was opposed by his guardian, Robert Morris, yet 
he could not divest himself of it ; and when he found his 
wish approved by General Washington, he gave to it the 
energies of his whole being, and, with the liveliest grat- 
itude, received from him an ensign's commission in a 
company of artillery destined to be stationed on the Ohio. 
At the age of eighteen, he entered a field of toil and strife, 
that many a veteran would gladly avoid. 

The deep and deadly hatred of the north-western In- 
dians against us had been sedulously fostered by Britain 
through the whole course of the revolutionary war, and 
never ceased with her acknowledgment of our inde- 
pendence. Though the brightest jewel had fallen from 
her crown, she was determined at least to mar its beauty, 
and, if possible, to shatter and destroy it. Large amounts 
of presents had been annually lavished on the Indians, 
who were thus induced to believe in the sincerity of Brit- 
ish professions of friendship, and to give them aid in all 
their machinations against the people of the United States. 
During the six years following the peace of 1783, it is 
estimated that 1500 defenceless inhabitants became vie- 



LIVES OE THE PRESIDENTS. 54? 

tims of savage ferocity. In 1794, Wayne advanced into 
the heart of the Indian country, and on the 20th of August 
he gained a complete victory over the combined forces 
of 2000 Indians and Canadians. In the despatch to the 
president, the name of Harrison is honorably mentioned. 

In 1794, when he was but twenty-one years of age, Har- 
rison received a captain's commission, and was placed in 
command of Fort Washington, with extensive powers and 
heavy responsibilities, which would have been intrusted to 
none but a man of tried integrity and sterling ability. 
He married the daughter of John Cleves Symmes, distin- 
guished as the founder of the Miami settlements. 

In 1797, Harrison resigned his commission, and re- 
ceived the appointment of secretary of the North-west 
Territory. Two years after, at the age of twenty-six, he 
was elected delegate to the House of Representatives of 
the United States. The absorbing question of legislation 
for his constituents, was the disposal of the public lands. 
Hitherto, the lands had been sold only in large parcels, 
not less than 4000 acres. Of course, very few could pur- 
chase from government, but were compelled to obtain it 
from the extensive dealers at a considerable advance in 
price. Harrison, from his extensive acquaintance with 
the wants and wishes of the actual settlers, was appointed 
chairman of a committee to inquire into the expediency of 
making sales of smaller parcels, in order that the settler 
might obtain it at the minimum price, and the exorbitant 
exactions of monopolizers be thereby repressed. Through 
his exertions, the bill granting the sale of sections of 320 
acres was passed ; subsequently it was sold in still smaller 
parcels. 

In 1800, Harrison was appointed governor of Indiana. 
Through the whole course of his administration, his per- 
fect integrity shone conspicuous. Though he possessed 
the power of confirming or of rejecting certain grants 
to individuals, the stain of a bribe never rested on his 
hand. 

But one heart fraught with malice was found to harbor 
a wish to tarnish the unsullied integrity of Harrison. One 
Mcintosh ventured to accuse him of defrauding the In- 
dians in the treaty of Fort Wayne. An action for slander 



548 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

was brought against him, which resulted in a fine of 4000 
dollars, of which Harrison gave one third to the orphans 
of some of those who had perished in the field, and re- 
stored the remainder to the culprit himself. 

As commissioner and superintendent of Indian affairs, 
his correspondence with Congress exhibits him in the 
most favorable light. 

The government of the United States was particularly 
anxious, at this time, to avoid a collision with the Indians, 
while the inclinations of the Indians, whetted by the false 
representations of the British, all urged them to war. 
The treaty of Fort Wayne was made in the absence 
of Tecumseh; and, on his return, he threatened with 
death some of the chiefs who had executed it. Harrison 
invited him to a conference. Tecumseh approached the 
conference with four hundred warriors, whose appearance 
indicated deep and determined hostility. Tecumseh urged 
his argument against the right of one tribe to sell land 
without the consent of all. Harrison replied, that the 
Miamis, with whom he had formed a treaty, were the 
original possessors of the lands they had transferred, and 
the Shawnese, who had been driven by the Creeks from 
Georgia, had no right to attempt to control them in any 
thing relating to their territory. This roused the ire of 
Tecumseh. He sprang to his feet, exclaiming, " It is 
false ! " and, calling on his warriors, they gathered around 
him, with war-clubs in their hands, raised to begin the bat- 
tle. General Harrison calmly drew his sword, repressed 
the ardor of his men to punish their insolence, and, with a 
resolute brow and appearance, his keen eye resting on that 
of the fierce Tecumseh, told him that he was a bad man ; 
and that he would have no further talk with him ; that he 
must return to his camp, and leave the settlements im- 
mediately. 

The bold warrior found that he had mistaken his man. 
From the mildness and urbanity of his general bearing, he 
evidently believed that he had only to make demonstrations 
of hostility, to obtain from him whatever he desired ; but 
when he saw the same calm, but resolute exterior, differ- 
ing in nothing save in the additional keenness of his flash- 
ing eye, and the more erect and lofty bearing of his person, 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 549 

he paused for a moment, then departed from the council, 
followed by his braves. The next day, Tecumseh apolo- 
gized for his violence, and solicited another interview, 
which terminated in Tecumseh's declaration, that he still 
adhered to his opinion of the preceding day. The danger 
of war with England every day becoming more imminent, 
the Indians became more daring. A large body of them 
had collected at Prophet's Town ; and now General Harri- 
son prepared to repress their hostilities, either by negotia- 
ting a peace or by chastising them. The Indians desired 
a conference for the purpose of assassinating him in 
council, as it was afterwards ascertained; but he knew too 
well the Indian character to be thrown off his guard, and 
immediately requested two of his officers to choose a place 
for a camp. They selected an elevated spot, surrounded 
with low, moist ground, acknowledged by all to be well 
adapted to their purpose. On this ground the army en- 
camped in order of battle, ready to engage at a moment's 
warning. The next morning, General Harrison arose be- 
fore the dawn, and sat with his aids by the fire, when the 
alarm was given by a musket-shot from one of the senti- 
nels, succeeded by the war-whoop, and a fierce attack by 
the Indians. The general mounted his horse, and hast- 
ened to the point of attack ; where finding his men hard 
pressed, he ordered up two companies to their support. 
Major Davis and Colonel White fell in attempting to dis- 
lodge some Indians from a clump of trees near at hand. 
In the act of leading a company to reenforce the right 
flank, the general's aid, Colonel Owen, of Kentucky, fell at 
his side. The battle continued for some hours, when the 
Indians were completely routed, though the solemn chant 
of the prophet was heard in the intervals of the battle, 
mino-lina with the rattling of deer's hoofs, invoking the aid 
of the Great Spirit. 

A short time previous to the declaration of war with 
Great Britain, Governor Harrison was constituted a major- 
general in the militia of Kentucky. But the government of 
the United States, ignorant of the circumstances connected 
with his appointment, ordered General Winchester, of the 
regular army, to take the command. General Harrison 
consequently retired to resume his duties as governor of 



550 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

Indiana. But as soon as the president learned the actual 
situation of affairs, and that Harrison was the favorite of 
the west, the chief command in the north-west was given 
him. He received orders to retake Detroit, to penetrate 
Canada as far as events would justify, and, in fine, to act in 
all cases according to his own judgment. The order of 
government was obeyed to the letter. Detroit was re- 
captured. Canada was penetrated far enough to allow 
the British to feel the pressure of the iron hand of war. 

The campaign opened under the most discouraging 
auspices. General Winchester, with a considerable force, 
had encamped at the Rapids, where messengers arrived 
informing him that the camp of Frenchtown was hourly 
threatened with an attack from the Indians. He sent six 
hundred men to support its soldiers, who, arriving unex- 
pectedly, gained a complete victory over the British and 
Indians. They resolved to maintain their position, and 
General Winchester, with his whole force, advanced to 
their support ; but, omitting to fortify his position, it was 
attacked by a large force under Colonel Proctor, and car- 
ried, with great loss to the Americans. All the wounded 
Americans, with the consent of Proctor, were inhumanly 
butchered. But even under these deep provocations the 
noble Harrison never retaliated. " Let an account of 
murdered innocence be opened in heaven against our 
enemies alone," says he, in an order issued after learning 
the tragical result of Winchester's expedition. The army 
now fortified Fort Meigs in expectation of an attack. 
General Harrison himself was in the fort. On the 26th of 
April, Colonel Proctor, with a large force of British and 
Indians, approached it, and commenced a severe cannon- 
ade, which continued with intervals for several days. On « 
the 4th of May, General Harrison received intelligence of 
the approach of the Kentucky militia, under General Clay. 
He determined to raise the siege. He ordered General 
Clay to detach eight hundred men to seize the batteries on 
the opposite side of the river, spike the guns, and return 
at once to their boats, and with his main body to fight his 
way to the camp. The whole was successful ; but the 
division of eight hundred men remained in the batteries, 
instead of retiring according to orders, and were almost 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 551 

totally annihilated, about two thirds being killed and taken 
prisoners. The prisoners, according to Proctor's usual 
policy, were given over to the Indians for their amusement, 
and numbers massacred in cold blood under the eye of 
Proctor, till Tecumseh came up from the batteries, and ex- 
claiming, " For shame! it is a disgrace to kill defenceless 
prisoners ! " put an end to the slaughter. 

On the 10th of September, Perry gained his brilliant 
victory over the British squadron on Lake Erie, and on the 
27th, General Harrison entered and encamped on the ruins 
of Maiden, which the British had dismantled and forsaken. 

The necessary preparations completed, General Harrison 
started in pursuit of Proctor. On the 5th of October, 
encamped on a narrow strip of land between the River 
Thames on the left, and a swamp on the right, where lay 
Tecumseh and his warriors, Colonel Johnson, with his 
mounted men, was ordered to break the British line, and 
to form in their rear. This movement was executed with 
perfect success, and, after an obstinate resistance from the 
Indians, he retained possession of the ground. The cap- 
ture of nearly the whole British army was the result. 
Proctor, however, haunted by fears of punishment should 
he fall into the hands of the Americans, left the field be- 
fore the battle was ended. 

Afterwards, Harrison was appointed Indian commissioner, 
was elected member of the U. S. House of Representatives, 
of the Senate of Ohio, and of that of the United States, and 
finally minister to Colombia. In every capacity in which 
he was called to act, he was never false to his noble char- 
acter ; he evinced the same stern, uncompromising integrity, 
the same republican simplicity, the same regard for the 
rights of those with whom he was associated in command. 
These were the characteristics which drew upon him the 
eyes of his country, when seeking among her sons for an 
honest man to fill the presidential chair. It was this, his 
almost perfect character, that, on his nomination for the 
presidency, drew from the sagacious Adams the exclama- 
tion, " He will go in like a whirlwind." Men have 
doubted, and justly too, whether to call him Great. He 
was not " The Great." This name has been too long as- 
sociated with Alexander, and men of his class, to allow it 



552 THE AMERICAN POLITICIAN. 

to sully the fair fame of our Harrison. None, but a few 
misguided men, have attempted to affix it to the name of 
Washington himself. Harrison loved his species too much 
to become Great. He knew that, to become so, the souls 
of one hundred thousand men must be his, to control, di- 
rect, and sacrifice, as he chose ; the rights of millions must 
be sacrificed to his ambition and vanity; the tears and 
groans of the oppressed, the widow, and the fatherless, must 
rise, and would rise, to Heaven, and yet be unheard by him. 
The man, who, like Harrison, reads his order for the day 
from the " Book of Life," can never become Great. He 
finds there too much true democracy, too much value at- 
tached to a human soul, to allow him to launch his barque 
for greatness on the tide of human blood. 

It is true, the structure was not finished ; the last touch- 
stone of virtue was not applied to his well-tried soul ; he 
died as the mantle of power descended on him, ere the 
strong temptations it presents had time to assault the well- 
built fabric of his glory, cemented by goodness. 

He died on the 4th of April, 1841, just one month after 
he had been inaugurated as president of the United States. 



THE END. 



VB.AJ3Q 



